The 2017 WNBA playoffs brought together eight teams seeded by regular-season record, with the top two seeds earning double byes and the next two receiving first-round byes. The opening two rounds were single-elimination games played on the higher seed's home court, while the semifinals and Finals shifted to best-of-five series using a 2-2-1 home-court format. In the first round, the Washington Mystics defeated the Dallas Wings, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Seattle Storm, leading to second-round victories for Washington and Phoenix over the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun, respectively. The semifinals then paired the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx against the Mystics and the second-seeded Los Angeles Sparks against the Mercury. This ultimately set up a highly anticipated Finals matchup between the league's two best regular-season teams, the Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks. Seeding tiebreakers were resolved through head-to-head records, conference performance, results against winning teams, and point differential, with a coin toss as a final fallback.