WNBA standings, playoff picture, schedule: Aces continue surge, Valkyries set expansion team wins record

The final month of the WNBA regular season has arrived, which means it’s officially time for the playoff push. Each team has fewer than 15 games remaining, as 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 Tuesday — have opened up a huge lead in the race for the No. 1 seed, every other seed remains up for grabs. 

A busy Friday night saw the Las Vegas Aces win their sixth in a row to join the race for the No. 2 seed, while the Golden State Valkyries extended their winning streak to take over sixth place and set the record for the most wins in a season by an expansion team. Elsewhere, the Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream to end their six-game losing streak and the Dream’s six-game winning streak. The Indiana Fever lost their second in a row to drop into seventh, while the Los Angeles Sparks won to keep pace in the race for eighth. 

The action will continue Saturday with a Finals rematch between the Lynx and New York Liberty on CBS at 2 p.m. ET. 

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 (27-5)New York Liberty (21-12)Atlanta Dream (21-12)Phoenix Mercury (19-13)Las Vegas Aces (20-14)Golden State Valkyries (18-15)Indiana Fever (18-16)Seattle Storm (17-17)Los Angeles Sparks (16-17)Washington Mystics (15-18)Dallas Wings (9-25)Chicago Sky (8-25)Connecticut Sun (6-26)

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. 

Lynx running away with No. 1 seed

The Lynx cruised past the Liberty in the second half Sunday to win their fifth game in a row despite Napheesa Collier’s continued absence. Collier, the MVP frontrunner, went down with a sprained ankle on Aug. 2 and was expected to miss at least two weeks. The Lynx’s big lead in the race for the No. 1 seed will allow them to give Collier all the time she needs to recover. Despite being inactive on Tuesday, the Lynx became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.  

Aces join the battle for No. 2 

2. New York Liberty (21-12)3. Atlanta Dream (21-12)4. Phoenix Mercury (19-13)5. Las Vegas Aces (20-14)

The Dream’s six-game winning streak came to an end on Friday, which allowed the idle Liberty to jump back into second place via a tiebreaker. In a huge game in the desert, the Aces held on to beat the Mercury and extend their winning streak to six games. All of a sudden, the Aces are only 1½ games behind the Liberty, and right in the mix for the No. 2 seed. 

Valkyries surge into sixth, Fever falter

6. Golden State Valkyries (18-15)7. Indiana Fever (18-16)

The Valkyries’ historic season continued Friday when they crushed the Sky to win their fourth game in a row and set the record for the most wins by an expansion team in their inaugural season. In addition, the Valkyries climbed above the Fever to take sole possession of the No. 6 seed. It is worth noting that the Valkyries have the most difficult remaining schedule, so they’ll have their work cut out for them down the stretch. The Fever, who have lost four of their last five and remain without Caitlin Clark, have the second-toughest remaining schedule. 

Battle for final two spots gets more interesting

8. Seattle Storm (17-17)9. Los Angeles Sparks (16-17)10. Washington Mystics (15-18)

A lot happened on Friday, and all of a sudden, the battle for the final two spots got a lot more interesting. The Mystics beat the Fever, the Storm beat the Dream and the Sparks beat the Wings, which means just 1½ games separate these three teams. The Mystics are still the least likely to get into the playoffs, but they’ve won two of their last three to remain in the mix. Sunday’s matchup between the Sparks and Mystics will be crucial. 

Lottery bound

11. Dallas Wings (9-25)12. Chicago Sky (8-25)13. Connecticut Sun (6-26)

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 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.