2024 WNBA Playoffs Live Bracket: Closer look at matchups as of latest standings

The WNBA playoffs are rapidly approaching after the league took a month-long hiatus for the Olympic break. With action around the league drawing in a record number of viewers, and teams like the Connecticut Sun and LA Sparks making history with their sellout game at TD Garden, fans are eagerly awaiting postseason action.

Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever secured its place in the postseason for the first time in eight years.

The 2024 WNBA regular season standings are as follows:

Position	Team	Record
1	(X) NY Liberty	32-8
2	(X) Minnesota Lynx	30-10
3	(X) Connecticut Sun	28-12
4	(X) Las Vegas Aces	27-13
5	(X) Seattle Storm	25-15
6	(X) Indiana Fever	20-20
7	(X) Phoenix Mercury	19-21
8	(X) Atlanta Dream	15-25
9	Washington Mystics	14-26
10	Chicago Sky	13-27
11	Dallas Wings	9-31
12	LA Sparks	8-32

Note: (X) - Indicates team that has already clinched a playoff spot. Teams that have clinched may not necessarily be locked into a particular seeding position.

The WNBA playoffs bracket is as follows:

(1) NY Liberty vs. (8) Atlanta Dream

(2) Minnesota Lynx vs. (7) Phoenix Mercury

(3) Connecticut Sun vs. (6) Indiana Fever

(4) Las Vegas Aces vs. (5) Seattle Storm

Looking at WNBA playoffs start date and format for 2024 season after 2022 format change

Following the 2024 Paris Olympics break, the WNBA resumed earlier this month, with the Trade Deadline then passing on Aug. 20.

Teams around the league are now shifting their focus to the postseason ahead. The 2024 WNBA regular season will run through Sep. 19, with playoffs then set to begin on Sep. 22.

Per WNBA.com, the league has Oct. 20 set as the last possible date for the WNBA Finals to begin, however, no official date has been given yet.

While the league had previously used a knockout-elimination style format for the first two rounds for many years, in 2022 it moved to a best-of-three series for the first round. Then, teams who advance to the semifinal round and the WNBA Finals will play a best-of-five series.

The league will seed teams by overall record rather than conference rankings as the NBA does, with the top eight teams qualifying for the playoffs. Teams will then match up by seeding for four first-round matchups, two semifinal matchups, and then the WNBA Finals.

The first seed will play the eighth seed, with the second and seventh seeds, third and sixth seeds, and fourth and fifth seeds all meeting in the first round, respectively.

This year's WNBA playoffs will air on ESPN and ABC, with ESPN 2 also airing games on ESPN+.