The league moved to the current format in 2016 – opening with consecutive rounds of individual elimination – in 2016. Teams that bet five to eight will play a one-and-done game in round one, with the winners heading to No. 3 and 3 ascend. 4 seeds in another win-or-go home competition in the quarterfinals before finally reaching the semifinals against the top two seeds played in a best of 5 series.
The first two rounds are over in no time, and as everyone knows, anything can happen in a game in a playoff. Thirty-six games of good work from # 3 can be easily undone in 40 minutes.
“I hate it. I thought it was a joke when we were # 1 (2016 and 2017). I thought it was a joke. How really? No one is going to fight to change this?” Reeve said. I don’t like that at all. This league is too good. “
Reeve has shared this view with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. But Reeve said those in the league were told that ESPN wanted the single-elimination format. If that has to be the case, Reeve said, do it for seeds 5-8.
“At least make some progress and protect the three and four (seeds) a little,” Reeve said. “The league is too deep. It’s too deep. I just think it changes the product briefly at the most important time of the year. “
This conversation from last week provides a perfect transition to the gigantic slope on Wednesday night between Minnesota and Las Vegas that – fittingly – airs on ESPN2. That came after a television schedule change made that weekend due to the game’s stakes.
And they’re massive. Because the Lynx (18-9) are currently in third place in the WNBA rating. The aces (20-8) are second.
A loss in Minnesota on Wednesday puts Las Vegas two games in the losing column of the Lynx and would put the Lynx on the losing column with Seattle (19-10) and Phoenix (18-10). One of these teams will almost certainly be relegated to 5th place, which means they will have to win unique games in a row to make it to the semifinals.
With a win on Wednesday, the Lynx would level the aces in the losing column with four regular season games – three of which will face the last-placed Indiana Fever (6-21). Keep in mind that Minnesota already owns the tiebreaker against the Aces as it won the season streak. A win on Wednesday puts the Lynx firmly in the driver’s seat for a top two seed.
Connecticut (21-6), currently the # 1 seed, is a virtual lock to earn the double bye.
How important is a top two seed? Not only do they avoid all individual elimination games and have a home advantage in the semi-final series, but the quarter-final winners only have one day off between this round and the start of the semi-finals – one day of travel.
“There’s a huge advantage,” said Reeve. “A huge advantage.”
This has been shown in five seasons of the new format so far. Since that structure was created in 2016, four of the last five WNBA finals have fought a battle between the top two seeds in the league. The only exception was in 2018, when third-placed Washington ousted second-placed Atlanta in five games in the semifinals before being defeated by top-seeded Seattle in the final.
If you want to make it to the WNBA finals, the best way – almost the only way to be honest – is to earn a top two seed.
So not only is Wednesday’s fight the biggest game of the season for the Lynx, it could also go a long way in determining the end of this season.
