WNBA standings, playoff picture, schedule: Aces climb into third place with ninth straight win

Just a few weeks remain in the WNBA regular season and the playoff push has produced some thrilling action. Each team has fewer than 10 games remaining, and 10 of the league’s 13 teams are within reach of a playoff spot. And while the Minnesota Lynx — who officially clinched a playoff spot last week — have opened up a huge lead in the race for the No. 1 seed, every other seed remains up for grabs. 

Four games took place Thursday, all of which had playoff implications. Early on, the Washington Mystics lost to the last-place Connecticut Sun for the second time this week, which was a big blow to their hopes of catching the Seattle Storm for the No. 8 seed. Later on, the race for the No. 2 seed really heated up after the Atlanta Dream beat the Minnesota Lynx, the New York Liberty were upset by the Chicago Sky and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury for their ninth win in a row. Less than a month ago, the Aces were under .500; now they’re in third place. 

The action will continue Friday with three more games:

Minnesota Lynx at Indiana Fever, 7:30 p.m. ET — IONSeattle Storm at Dallas Wings, 7:30 p.m. ET — IONGolden State Valkyries at Phoenix Mercury, 10 p.m. ET — ION

As a reminder, the top eight teams make the playoffs, regardless of conference standings. From there, they are placed into a standard eight-team bracket. The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-three, while the semifinals are a best-of-five and the Finals, as of this season, are a best-of-seven. 

The regular season will conclude on Sept. 11 and the playoffs begin on Sept. 14. The last possible Finals date is Oct. 19. 

Standings

Minnesota Lynx (28-7) — Clinched playoff berthAtlanta Dream (23-13)Las Vegas Aces (23-14)New York Liberty (22-14)Phoenix Mercury (21-14)Indiana Fever (19-16)Golden State Valkyries (18-17)Seattle Storm (18-18)Los Angeles Sparks (17-18)Washington Mystics (16-20)Chicago Sky (9-26) — Eliminated from playoff contentionDallas wings (9-27) — Eliminated from playoff contentionConnecticut Sun (8-27) — Eliminated from playoff contention

Note: Two-team ties are decided first by head-to-head record and then, if necessary, by better record against .500+ teams. Ties between more than two teams are determined by the combined head-to-head record against the other teams. 

Lynx running away with No. 1 seed

The Lynx fell to the Dream on Thursday in a thriller and have now lost back-to-back games for the first time all season. Still, they have a 5½-game lead over the Dream in the race for the No. 1 seed and Napheesa Collier is closing in on a return from an ankle sprain that has kept her out since Aug. 2. 

Aces win ninth straight as race for No. 2 seed heats up

2. Atlanta Dream (23-13)3. Las Vegas Aces (23-14)4. New York Liberty (22-14)5. Phoenix Mercury (21-14)

All four of these teams were in action Thursday. The Dream held on for a thrilling win over the Lynx, the Liberty were stunned by the lottery-bound Sky and the Aces beat the Mercury to win their ninth game in a row. 

Those results meant the Dream jumped back into second place, the Aces climbed into third, the Liberty fell to fourth and the Mercury dropped to fifth. Just 1½ games separate these four teams, the race for the No. 2 seed is going to be furious over the final few weeks of the season. 

Fever use historic comeback to jump back into sixth

6. Indiana Fever (19-16)7. Golden State Valkyries (18-17)

The Fever looked like they would lose their third in a row to a lottery-bound opponent Sunday until they pulled off a 21-point comeback — the largest in franchise history — to beat the Sun in overtime. Meanwhile, the Valkyries have now lost two games in a row. Thanks to those results, the Fever have taken a one-game lead on the Valkyries in the race for the No. 6 seed. 

Three teams for final spot

8. Seattle Storm (18-18)9. Los Angeles Sparks (17-18)10. Washington Mystics (16-20)

Few singular plays will have as big of an impact on the playoff race as Kelsey Plum’s buzzer-beater on Wednesday. Her shot not only eliminated the Wings and Sky, but was a one-game swing in the race for the No. 8 seed. If Plum had missed, the Storm would have had a 1½ game lead over the Sparks. Instead, the Sparks are within half a game of the final playoff spot. 

The Mystics’ back-to-back losses to the last-place Sun have likely ended their hopes of earning a playoff spot. They’re now two games back of the Storm. 

Lottery bound

11. Chicago Sky (9-26)12. Dallas Wings (9-27)13. Connecticut Sun (8-27)

This season has been a disaster for all three of these teams. The Sky have been beset by injuries, the Wings’ offseason moves didn’t pan out and the Sun were never going to be good after their offseason departures. All of them are now officially lottery bound, but only the Wings control their own pick. 

The Sky owe their first to the Lynx, while the Sun owe the Sky swap rights to their first rounder. The Sky also own Mercury’s first rounder, so the Sky will get the more favorable of the Sun/Mercury picks, while the Sun will get the least favorable of those selections.