2012 WNBA Playoffs explained

Year:	2012
WNBA Playoffs
Dates:	September 27 – October, 2012
Winners:	Indiana Fever (Finals Champion)
Continental Cup Title:	East champion
Continental Cup Qualifiers:	Indiana Fever (Coach: Lin Dunn)
Continental Cup Title1:	West champion
Continental Cup Qualifiers1:	Minnesota Lynx (Coach: Cheryl Reeve)
Prev Season:	2011
Next Season:	2013

Standings
Eastern Conference	Western Conference
1st Connecticut	1st Minnesota
2nd Indiana	2nd Los Angeles
3rd Atlanta	3rd San Antonio
4th New York	4th Seattle

The 2012 WNBA Playoffs was the postseason for the Women's National Basketball Association's 2012 season. Four teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs, seeded 1 to 4 in a tournament bracket, with the two opening rounds in a best-of-three format, and the final in a best-of-five format.

The Minnesota Lynx qualified as the overall top seed, and the Los Angeles Sparks, San Antonio Silver Stars, and Seattle Storm also qualified in the West. The Connecticut Sun were the top seed in the East, joined by the Indiana Fever, Atlanta Dream, and New York Liberty.^{[1] [2]}

Minnesota won the Western Conference championship, and Indiana won the Eastern Conference championship. The Fever won the 2012 WNBA Finals, winning three games to the Lynx's one.

Tiebreak procedures

Two-team tie

1. Better record in head-to-head games.
2. Better winning percentage within own conference.
3. Better winning percentage against all teams with .500 or better record at the end of the season.
4. Better point differential in games head-to-head.
5. Coin toss.

Three or more-team tie

1. Better winning percentage among all head-to-head games involving tied teams.
2. Better winning percentage against teams within conference (for first two rounds of playoffs) or better record against teams in the opposite conference (for Finals).
3. Better winning percentage against all teams with a .500 or better record at the end of the season.
4. Better point differential in games involving tied teams.
5. Coin toss.

Playoff qualifying

Eastern Conference

Seed	Team	W	L	Tiebreaker	Clinched
width=100	Playoff berth	width=100	Conference homecourt
1	Connecticut Sun	25	9	–	August 28	September 17
2	Indiana Fever	22	12	–	August 31	–
3	Atlanta Dream	19	15	–	September 14	–
4	New York Liberty	15	19	–	September 18	–

Western Conference

Seed	Team	W	L	Tiebreaker	Clinched
width=100	Playoff berth	width=100	League homecourt
1	Minnesota Lynx	27	7	–	August 19	September 15
2	Los Angeles Sparks	24	10	–	August 23	–
3	San Antonio Silver Stars	21	13	–	August 25	–
4	Seattle Storm	16	18	–	September 9	–

Playoffs and Finals

See also: 2012 WNBA Finals.

Eastern Conference

Conference semifinals

(1) Connecticut Sun vs. (4) New York Liberty

Regular-season seriesConnecticut won the regular-season series 4–1:

(2) Indiana Fever vs. (3) Atlanta Dream

Regular-season seriesIndiana won the regular season series 3–2:

Conference finals

(1) Connecticut Sun vs. (2) Indiana Fever

Regular-season seriesThe Connecticut Sun won 3–1 in the regular season series:

Western Conference

Conference semifinals

(2) Los Angeles Sparks vs. (3) San Antonio Silver Stars

Regular-season seriesSan Antonio won the regular-season series 3–1:

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (4) Seattle Storm

Regular-season seriesMinnesota won the regular-season series 3–1:

Conference finals

(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (2) Los Angeles Sparks

Regular-season seriesThe regular season series was tied 2–2:

WNBA Finals

Minnesota Lynx vs. Indiana Fever

See main article: 2012 WNBA Finals.

Regular-season seriesThe Minnesota Lynx won the season series 2–0:

Notes and References

1. Web site: Lynx beat Shock 83–59, clinch playoff berth . 2012-09-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120820162308/http://www.wnba.com/games/20120819/TULMIN/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore . 2012-08-20 . dead .
2. http://www.wnba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html WNBA Standings