2003 WNBA playoffs explained

Year:	2003
WNBA Playoffs
Dates:	August 28 - September 16, 2003
Winners:	Detroit Shock (Finals Champion)
Continental Cup Title:	East champion
Continental Cup Qualifiers:	Detroit Shock (Coach: Bill Laimbeer)
Continental Cup Title1:	West champion
Continental Cup Qualifiers1:	Los Angeles Sparks (Coach: Michael Cooper)
Prev Season:	2002
Next Season:	2004

The 2003 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2003 season which ended with the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Shock beating the Western Conference champion and two-time defending WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks, 2-1. Ruth Riley was named the MVP of the Finals.

Format

• The top 4 teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.
• All 4 teams are seeded by basis of their standings.

Regular season standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Note: Teams with an "X" clinched playoff spots.

Playoffs

First round

- Detroit defeats Cleveland, 2-1

• Detroit 76, Cleveland 74 (Aug. 29)
• Cleveland 66, Detroit 59 (Aug. 31)
• Detroit 77, Cleveland 63 (Sept. 2)

- Connecticut defeats Charlotte, 2-0

• Connecticut 68, Charlotte 66 (Aug. 28)
• Connecticut 68, Charlotte 62 (Aug. 30)

- Los Angeles defeats Minnesota, 2-1

• Minnesota 74, Los Angeles 72 (Aug. 28)
• Los Angeles 80, Minnesota 69 (Aug. 30)
• Los Angeles 74, Minnesota 64 (Sept. 1)

- Sacramento defeats Houston, 2-1

• Sacramento 65, Houston 59 (Aug. 29)
• Houston 69, Sacramento 48 (Aug. 31)
• Sacramento 70, Houston 68 (Sept. 2)

Conference finals

- Detroit defeats Connecticut, 2-0

• Detroit 73, Connecticut 63 (Sept. 5)
• Detroit 79, Connecticut 73 (Sept. 7)

- Los Angeles defeats Sacramento, 2-1

• Sacramento 77, Los Angeles 69 (Sept. 5)
• Los Angeles 79, Sacramento 54 (Sept. 7)
• Los Angeles 66, Sacramento 63 (Sept. 8)

WNBA Finals

See main article: 2003 WNBA Finals.

- Detroit defeats Los Angeles, 2-1

• L.A. 75, Detroit 63 (Sept. 12)
• Detroit 62, L.A. 61 (Sept. 14)
• Detroit 83, L.A. 78 (Sept. 16)

^{[1] [2]}

See also

• List of WNBA Champions

External links

• Link to WNBA Playoffs series, recap, and boxscores

Notes and References

1. Web site: WNBA.com: Finals 2003 . 2014-07-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140219093656/http://www.wnba.com/finals2003/ . 2014-02-19 . dead .
2. http://www.wnba.com/history/history_2003.html WNBA.com WNBA Playoffs History: 2003