INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever learned their playoff opponent Thursday night when the Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky.
The win clinched the No. 3 seed for Connecticut (28-12); with Indiana (20-20) locked into the No. 6 spot, the two teams will face each other in the postseason.
Indiana and Connecticut met four times during the regular season. The Sun won three of those contests, including a pair of early-season games as the Fever tried to find their footing.
Indiana prevailed 84-80 in their most recent matchup, an Aug. 28 home game. The teams have met three times previously in the playoffs; Indiana won two of the three first-round series, with their 2012 victory launching their WNBA championship run.
The Fever are in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. They finished with a .500 record after losing to the Washington Mystics 92-91 in their final game of the regular season. The Fever leaned on their reserves for much of the game. Had Indiana won, it would’ve finished with a winning record for the first time since 2015.
The WNBA Playoffs start on Sunday, Sept. 22. The first round will be a best-of-three series, with the first two games being played at Connecticut. The Fever will only host a game if they split the first two with the Sun.
Here’s a look at the playoff schedule:
- Game 1: Fever at Sun; Sunday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m. ET on ABC
- Game 2: Fever at Sun; Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
- Game 3: Sun at Fever (if necessary); Friday, Sept. 27, time TBD on ESPN2
Here are the first-round matchups for the WNBA Playoffs:
- No. 1 New York Liberty (32-8) vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream (15-25)
- No. 2 Minnesota Lynx (30-10) vs. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury (19-21)
- No. 3 Connecticut Sun (28-12) vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever (20-20)
- No. 4. Las Vegas Aces (27-13) vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm (25-15)