WNBA playoff picture: Standings, schedule as Dream beat Sparks to jump back into second place

The final week of the 2025 WNBA season has arrived, but the playoff picture remains murky. The Minnesota Lynx have secured the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, but no other team is locked into a spot and three postseason berths still remain up for grabs. 

The Atlanta Dream picked up a big win on Wednesday over the Los Angeles Sparks to jump back ahead of the Las Vegas Aces in the furious race for the No. 2 seed. The Sparks, meanwhile, fell to 1 ½ games back of the eighth-place Indiana Fever. 

The playoff push will continue Thursday with three games, including a showdown between the Lynx and Aces, who enter on a 12-game winning streak. The Lynx have won the first three meetings between the teams by a combined 98 points. 

Phoenix Mercury at Washington Mystics, 7:30 p.m. ET — Amazon PrimeDallas Wings at Golden State Valkyries, 10 p.m. ET — League PassMinnesota Lynx at Las Vegas Aces, 10 p.m. ET — Amazon Prime

As a reminder, the top eight teams in the league make the playoffs, regardless of conference. From there, they are placed into a standard eight-team bracket. The first round of the playoffs is a best-of-three series, 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 (32-8) — Clinched playoff berthAtlanta Dream (27-14) — Clinched playoff berthLas Vegas Aces (26-14) — Clinched playoff berthPhoenix Mercury (26-14) — Clinched playoff berthNew York Liberty (24-17) — Clinched playoff berthGolden State Valkyries (22-18)Seattle Storm (22-20)Indiana Fever (21-20)Los Angeles Sparks (19-21)Washington Mystics (16-25) — Eliminated from playoff contentionChicago Sky (10-30) — Eliminated from playoff contentionConnecticut Sun (10-31) — Eliminated from playoff contentionDallas Wings (9-32) — 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 have clinched No. 1 seed

The Lynx destroyed the lottery-bound Sun on Saturday to officially clinch the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage throughout the postseason. Furthermore, they set a new franchise record for wins in a season with 31. With four games remaining they still have a chance to break the 2023 Aces’ WNBA record of 34 wins in a season. 

2025 WNBA playoffs: Minnesota Lynx clinch No. 1 seed, homecourt advantage throughout postseason

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Dream jump Aces for second place, Liberty fading

2. Atlanta Dream (27-14)3. Las Vegas Aces (26-14)4. Phoenix Mercury (26-14)5. New York Liberty (24-17)

The Dream took care of the Sparks on Wednesday for their third win in a row and have jumped the Aces — who haven’t played for over a week due to a bizarre schedule quirk — for second place. The Aces and Mercury are both just half a game back now in the furious race for the No. 2 seed, which will likely go down to the final day. 

Meanwhile, the Liberty have dropped off from the pack. Though they clinched a playoff spot on Tuesday, they have lost two in a row and seven of their last 11 games. They are now closer to sixth than they are to fourth. 

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Valkyries closing in on history, Fever fall to eighth

6. Golden State Valkyries (22-18)7. Seattle Storm (22-20)8. Indiana Fever (21-20)9. Los Angeles Sparks (19-21)

The Sparks’ up-and-down form over the last few weeks continued with their loss to the Dream on Wednesday to fall 1 ½ games back of the eighth-place Fever and two games back of the seventh-place Storm. The Sparks do own the tiebreakers against both clubs, but are running out of time. 

The Valkyries, who took care of the reigning champion Liberty on Tuesday, are now three games up on the Sparks and own the tiebreaker between the clubs, so they are almost certainly going to become the first expansion team ever to make the playoffs in their inaugural season. 

Lottery bound

10. Washington Mystics (16-25)11. Chicago Sky (10-30)12. Connecticut Sun (10-31)13. Dallas Wings (9-32)

The Mystics officially joined the lottery-bound crew with a loss to the Valkyries on Saturday. Though they were more competitive than expected this season, they ultimately fell apart down the stretch after trading All-Star guard Brittney Sykes. They got a first-round pick for Sykes, though, and will now have another lottery selection, so missing the playoffs is for the best. 

The Sun, Sky and Wings have been a step behind everyone else all summer and have long been destined for the lottery. Only the Wings control their own first-round pick in the 2026 draft, however. 

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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.