As the calendar turns towards September, the 2024 WNBA regular season is winding down, and the playoff spots are filling up. The New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun were joined by the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm on Friday, leaving just three postseason berths available.
The busy night started with a dominant performance by Caitlin Clark and the Fever, who crushed the Sky to move into sixth place. Elsewhere, the Wings upset the Lynx to continue their late playoff push, while the Aces took care of the Dream thanks to another big night from A'ja Wilson. Finally, the Liberty returned to their winning ways by beating the Storm.
There's just one game on the docket for Saturday, with the Mystics set to host the Sun in a game with real seeding implications.
As a refresher, the top eight teams, regardless of conference affiliation, make the playoffs in the WNBA. Under the current playoff format, the teams are placed into a standard bracket with the No. 1 seed playing No. 8 in the first round, No. 2 vs. No. 7 and so on. Teams will play a best-of-three series in the first round and best-of-five series in the semifinals and finals. Notably, the first round is a 2-1 format, which means the higher seed gets the first two games at home, while the lower seed gets the deciding Game 3 at home should the series go that far. In the semifinals and Finals, it is a standard 2-2-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2 and 5, if necessary.
Here's everything you need to know about the current playoff picture, including the standings and key tiebreakers:
Standings
- New York Liberty (27-6) -- Playoff spot clinched
- Connecticut Sun (22-8)-- Playoff spot clinched
- Minnesota Lynx(23-9)-- Playoff spot clinched
- Las Vegas Aces(19-12)-- Playoff spot clinched
- Seattle Storm(19-12)-- Playoff spot clinched
- Indiana Fever(16-16)
- Phoenix Mercury (16-16)
- Chicago Sky (11-20)
- Atlanta Dream (10-21)
- Washington Mystics (9-22)
- Dallas Wings (9-22)
- Los Angeles Sparks(7-24)
Note: Two-team ties are decided first by head-to-head record and then, if necessary, better record against .500+ teams. Ties between more than two teams are determined by combined head-to-head record against the other teams.
Liberty alone at the top
1. New York Liberty (27-6)
- Tiebreakers: vs. Lynx (1-1); vs. Sun (3-1)
All is well again for the Liberty, who used a big second half to pull away from the Storm and get back in the win column on Friday. That, combined with a Lynx loss, means they are once again 3.5 games clear of any other team. They have some tough games coming up, but it would take a major collapse for them to fall out of the top spot.
Key remaining games:vs. Lynx, Sept. 15
Sun reclaim second from Lynx
2. Connecticut Sun (22-8)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Liberty (1-3); vs. Lynx (2-0); vs. Storm (0-1); vs. Aces (0-1)
The Sun learned first hand on Wednesday how much better the Fever are now than they were in the beginning of the season. With that loss, the Sun briefly dropped down into third place for the first time all season, but they bounced right back to second with the Lynx's loss on Friday.
Key remaining games:vs. Storm, Sept. 1; vs. Storm, Sept. 3; vs. Aces, Sept. 6; at Aces, Sept. 15; vs. Lynx, Sept. 17
3. Minnesota Lynx (23-9)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Liberty (1-1); vs. Sun (0-2); vs. Storm (3-1); vs. Aces (3-1)
The Lynx's seven-game winning streak came to an end on Friday with a surprise defeat to the Wings, who are suddenly playing terrific basketball. With the loss, the Lynx dropped back down to third place. Their Sept. 17 matchup with the Sun now looms as a potential decider for the No. 2 seed.
Key remaining games:at Liberty, Sept. 15; at Sun, Sept. 17
Aces and Storm fighting over fourth
4. Las Vegas Aces (19-12)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Sun (1-0); vs. Lynx (1-3); vs. Storm (2-1)
A'ja Wilson put together another terrific performance on Friday to lead the Aces past the Dream. As a result, they clinched a spot in the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season and leapfrogged the Storm again for fourth place. The big question now for the defending champs is whether they can build any sort of momentum.
Key remaining games:at Sun, Sept. 6; at Liberty, Sept. 8; vs. Sun, Sept. 15; at Storm, Sept. 17
5. Seattle Storm (19-12)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Sun (1-0); vs. Lynx (1-3); vs. Aces (1-2)
The Storm were unable to build off their dramatic win over the Dream earlier this week and fell to the first-place Liberty on Friday. Now just 2-4 since the season restarted, they've fallen back down to fifth place in the perpetual tussle with the Aces for the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage in the first round. On the bright side, they have clinched a playoff spot.
Key remaining games:at Sun, Sept. 1; at Sun, Sept. 3; at Liberty, Sept. 5; vs. Aces, Sept. 17
Fever finally catch Mercury for sixth
6. Indiana Fever (16-16)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Mercury (3-0); vs. Sky (3-1); vs. Dream (3-0)
The Fever kept things rolling on Friday with a big win over the Sky thanks to a career-high 31 points from Caitlin Clark. They are 5-1 since the Olympic break, and have used that hot streak to overtake the Mercury for sixth place via the tiebreaker. Soon, the Fever will officially clinch their first playoff berth since 2016.
Key remaining games:vs. Dream, Sept. 8
7. Phoenix Mercury (16-16)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Fever (0-3); vs. Sky (2-0)
The Mercury's poor form post-Olympic break continued with a loss to the Lynx on Wednesday to drop back to .500 on the season. All of a sudden, they have fallen into seventh place due to the tiebreaker with the Fever, who swept them this season. That could turn out to be key come Sept. 19.
Key remaining games:N/A
Sky, Dream, Mystics, Wings battling for final spot
8. Chicago Sky (11-20)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Dream (2-1); vs. Mystics (1-2); vs. Wings (2-1)
Chennedy Carter remains in the league's health and safety protocols, and the Sky look woeful without her and Marina Mabrey. They were soundly beaten on Friday by the Fever to run their losing streak to five games. Their lead for the final playoff spot is down to one game, and the Dream aren't the only team on their tail now.
Key remaining games:vs. Mystics, Sept. 11; vs. Mercury, Sept. 15; at Dream, Sept. 17
9. Atlanta Dream (10-21)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Sky (1-2); vs. Mystics (1-1); vs. Wings (1-1)
The Dream's mini hot streak coming out of the Olympic break is now a thing of the past. They lost to the Aces on Friday to extend their losing streak to four games, and once again failed to take advantage of the Sky's own skid. They remain one game out of the eighth and final playoff spot, but now also have to worry about the Mystics and Wings.
Key remaining games:at Fever, Sept. 8; vs. Mystics, Sept. 13; at Mystics, Sept. 15; vs. Sky, Sept. 17
10. Washington Mystics (9-22)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Sky (2-1); vs. Dream (1-1); vs. Wings (2-0)
The Mystics have been competitive all season long, and they're finally turning their performances into wins. They've suddenly won three in a row after their comeback Wednesday against the Sky. This run will most likely be too little, too late, as they're 2.5 games out, but with games remaining against the Sky and Dream, and the chance to win the season series with both of them, it's not inconceivable that they could steal the eighth spot.
Key remaining games:at Sky, Sept. 11; at Dream, Sept. 13; vs. Dream, Sept. 15
11. Dallas Wings (9-22)
- Tiebreakers:vs. Sky (1-2); vs. Dream (1-1); vs. Mystics (0-2)
The Wings were the No. 4 seed last season, and they've shown why this week. Now healthy, the Wings have found a rhythm and pulled off another big upset on Friday when they beat the Lynx for their third win in a row. It seemed unfathomable that the Wings could be in the playoff mix a few weeks ago, but they're only two games back of eighth now due to the Sky and Dream's respective collapses.
Key remaining games:vs Mystics, Sept. 3; at Dream, Sept. 6, at Sky, Sept. 8
A clear gap at the bottom
12. Los Angeles Sparks (7-24)
The Sparks ended their seven-game losing streak with a surprise win over the visiting Liberty, but remain in last place. Soon, it will be back to the lottery for a fourth time in a row, the longest such streak in franchise history.
