NEW YORK, August 13 -- From the opening tip of the 2002 WNBA Playoffs to the presentation of the WNBA Finals trophy, all the excitement of WNBA postseason action will be televised nationally, with NBC, ESPN, ESPN2 and Oxygen scheduled to telecast every game all the way to Labor Day.

The 2002 WNBA Playoffs will begin on Thursday, August 15, with NBC set to broadcast games in all three rounds, including Game 2 and Game 3 (if necessary) of the WNBA Finals.

Will Lisa Leslie and the Sparks go "All the Way to Labor Day" and add another WNBA Finals trophy to their collection this year?
Andrew D. Bernstein
WNBAE/Getty Images
ESPN/ESPN 2 will televise up to 14 games, opening its coverage on August 15 with the “Playoffs Preview: All the Way to Labor Day” on ESPN 2 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, and concluding with Game 1 of the Finals. Oxygen will make its WNBA postseason debut with coverage in the first round.

Eight teams (the top four teams from each conference) will advance to the 2002 WNBA Playoffs, and final playoff spots may be decided on the last day of the regular season, with 14 of the 16 WNBA teams in action on Tuesday, August 13. The first-round matchups will be released following the conclusion of that day’s games.

Each round of the 2002 WNBA Playoffs will consist of a best-of-three series. In the first-round series, the first-place teams in the Eastern and Western Conference will play the respective fourth-place teams, and the second- and third-place teams in each conference will face off. The teams with the best regular-season records will have home-court advantage and will host Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) after playing Game 1 on the road.

The first-round winners will meet in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals beginning on Thursday, August 22. The winners of the Conference Finals will advance to the 2002 WNBA Finals, which begin on Thursday, August 29.

The complete 2002 WNBA Playoffs schedule is as follows (all times Eastern):

FIRST ROUND

DAYDATETIMEGAMETV
ThursdayAug. 158 p.m. ETCharlotte (2) at Washington (3)ESPN2
10 p.m. ETLos Angeles (1) at Seattle (4)ESPN2
FridayAug. 167 p.m. ETNew York (1) at Indiana (4)ESPN2
9 p.m. ETHouston (2) at Utah (3)ESPN
SaturdayAug. 17noon ETWashington (3) at Charlotte (2)ESPN2
4 p.m. ETSeattle (4) at Los Angeles (1)NBC
SundayAug. 18noon ETIndiana (4) at New York (1)NBC
4:30 p.m. ETUtah (3) at Houston (2)ESPN2
MondayAug. 197 p.m. ETWashington (3) at Charlotte (2)*ESPN2
TBDSeattle (4) at Los Angeles (1)*ESPN2
TuesdayAug. 208 p.m. ETIndiana (4) at New York (1)*Oxygen
TBDUtah (3) at Houston (2)*Oxygen

CONFERENCE FINALS

DAYDATETIME GAMETV
ThursdayAug. 228 p.m. ETGame 1ESPN2
10 p.m. ETGame 1ESPN2
SaturdayAug. 244 p.m. ETGame 2NBC
8 p.m. ETGame 2ESPN2
SundayAug. 255 p.m. ETGame 3* ESPN2
7 p.m. ETGame 3* ESPN2

FINALS

DAYDATETIMEGAMETV
ThursdayAug. 297:30 p.m. ETGame 1ESPN2
SaturdayAug. 313:30 p.m. ETGame 2NBC
SundaySept. 13:30 p.m. ETGame 3* NBC

* if necessary
Schedule subject to change