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Dates | October 2 – 7 | |||||||||
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MVP | Seimone Augustus (Minnesota) | |||||||||
Television | ESPN, ESPN2 (HD) | |||||||||
Announcers |
Heather Cox (2–3), Terry Gannon (2–3), Rebecca Lobo (all), Holly Rowe (1), Pam Ward (1) |
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Referees | ||||||||||
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Eastern Finals | Atlanta defeated Indiana, 2–1 | |||||||||
Western Finals | Minnesota defeated Phoenix, 2–0 | |||||||||
Game 1: | Eric Brewton, Denise Brooks, and Roy Gulbeyan |
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Game 2: | Sue Blauch, Kurt Walker, and Lamont Simpson |
Game 3: | Michael Price, Daryl Humphrey, Cameron Inouye |
The 2011 WNBA Finals was the championship series of the 2011 season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Minnesota Lynx, champions of the Western Conference, swept the champions of the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Dream in three games.
The WNBA Finals was under a 2–2–1 rotation. The Lynx held home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record (27–7) than the Dream (20–14). The 2011 Finals marked the first time the teams met in the championship round. The Lynx made their first ever appearance in the Finals while the Dream were making their second consecutive appearance, after appearing in the 2010 championship series.
Prior to 2011 the Minnesota franchise had not won a playoff series. They had not qualified for the postseason since 2004. Only four players had postseason experience: Rebekkah Brunson, Alexis Hornbuckle, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Lindsay Whalen. To advance to the Finals, the Lynx defeated Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury 2–0 in the Western Conference Finals. Atlanta won its second straight Eastern Conference championship by defeating the top-seeded Indiana Fever 2–1 in the Eastern Conference Finals.