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Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx scores the game winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty during Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals on October 10, 2024 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.  Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images Basketball fans will have even more chances to see their favorite stars play in the Women’s National Basketball Association in the 2025 season. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league will expand its regular season from 40 to 44 games, and its Finals series from five to seven games, both beginning next year. The Finals round will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format for home games, with the higher seed hosting first. The three-game first round of the playoffs will alternate hosts, instead of the higher seed hosting the first two games before switching, like it did this season. Engelbert said the league has considered the playoff changes since the pandemic, but the surge in its popularity and introduction of charter flights for teams was the final push needed to implement the new playoff format. “The league’s growth and increased demand for WNBA basketball made this the ideal time to expand the schedule, lengthen the Finals and provide fans more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level,” Engelbert said during a Thursday press conference. The schedule is not the only thing expanding in next year’s season. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025 as the league’s 13th team. Two more expansion teams have been announced, one in Toronto and one in Portland, and there are discussions in the works to lock in a city for the 16th team, Engelbert said Thursday. The Toronto and Portland teams, which are both unnamed, will start play in…

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Filed under: News - @ October 11, 2024 4:21 pm