Talking the business of sports

The 2022 WNBA playoffs continued on Thursday night, and Game 1 between the Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics did not disappoint. After a back-and-forth affair, the Storm escaped with a three-point win thanks to Breanna Stewart and some late-game heroics from Jewell Loyd. Earlier in the night, Jonquel Jones led the Connecticut Sun to a comfortable win over the Dallas Wings in the first game of their series. 

Another new playoff format has debuted this year, as the league has scrapped the first- and second-round byes in favor of a standard three-round bracket format. The first round will be best-of-three, while the semifinals and Finals will be best-of-five. 

It's also important to note the first round series' will use a 2-1 format, which means the higher seed will host Games 1 and 2, while the lower seeded team will host Game 3, if necessary. The semifinals and Finals, though, will use a standard 2-2-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2 and 5, if necessary, and the lower seed hosting Games 3 and 4, if necessary. 

The #WNBAPlayoffs bracket presented by @Google is set ✅ First round starts this Wednesday, August 17 on ESPN 2 🤩 pic.twitter.com/iwULG82YTP

Here's a look at the entire schedule:

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