Attendance for WNBA games grew to the largest per game average since 2011, the league announced Wednesday.

It was the second consecutive year attendance went up, after a few years of struggling to grow. This year's average was 7,716 per game, and 1,574,078 total for the season.

The teams that saw the most growth were the Los Angeles Sparks (+17.8%), Connecticut Sun (+15.3%) and Minnesota Lynx (+12.3%). The Sparks had the second-best record in the league at 26-8, the Lynx the best at 27-7 and the Sun the fourth-best at 21-13.

The Sparks had their highest average attendance (11,350) since 2002, while the Lynx had their highest average attendance (10,407) since their inaugural season in 1999.

The league also had an 18% increase in merchandise sales.

The playoffs began Wednesday with two single-elimination games. The Washington Mystics beat the Dallas Wings 86-76, and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Seattle Storm 79-69.