WNBA: Will the Storm, Fever or Sparks make the playoffs?

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On Thursday, the Golden State Valkyries officially clinched their spot in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs. With their 84-80 win over the Dallas Wings, they became the first expansion team in league history to earn a playoff berth.

That leaves two unclaimed playoff spots up grabs for the Seattle Storm, Indiana Fever and Los Angeles. The Storm are currently the No. 7 seed, the Fever are No. 8 and the Sparks remain at No. 9. All three teams are in action on Friday night, with opportunities to advance, or undermine, their postseason ambitions.

The Sparks are running it back against the Atlanta Dream (7:30 p.m. ET, ION), the Fever host the Chicago Sky (7:30 p.m. ET, ION) and the Storm welcome the New York Liberty (10 p.m. ET, ION). Here’s what each of the playoff hopefuls need to do to achieve their desired result:

The Sparks’ Rickea Jackson and Cameron Brink surround the Dream’s Maya Caldwell.

Getty Images

Once again, Allisha Gray will be absent for the Dream, slated to miss her second-straight game, and only second game of the season, with a left knee issue.

On Wednesday, however, the Sparks still struggled to slow down the Dream offense, despite the absence of their leading scorer. It’s that end of the floor that has been the issue for LA all season, and what ultimately could keep them from making the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. Not only did the Sparks fail to stymy Rhyne Howard (19 points, 53.8 percent shooting, three 3s and five assists) or Brionna Jones (16 points and 13 rebounds), but they also allowed Naz Hillmon and Maya Caldwell to provide an extra source of scoring, combining for 29 points that more than compensated for Gray’s production.

An off-the-bench Spark also would help LA, as no reserve scored more than three points for the visitors on Wednesday.

The Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell evades the Sky’s Elizabeth Williams for the score.

NBAE via Getty Images

It’s official. Caitlin Clark, whose chance of returning from her extended groin injury already seemed highly unlikely, announced on social media that she will miss the rest of the 2025 season. She joins Sydney Colson, Aari McDonald, Sophie Cunningham and Chloe Bibby as permanently sidelined Fever players.

But, persevering through adversity has become Indy’s brand during this injury-plagued season. After two-straight losses that have them hanging on to the No. 8 seed, they’re due for a bounceback performance. And the Sky are just about the ideal opponent. The Fever are 4-0 against the Sky this season, averaging almost 90 points per game and winning by an average margin of almost 25 points.

Kelsey Mitchell has cooked Chicago, shooting better than 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3 as she has averaged over 23 points across the three games.

The Storm’s Nneka Ogwumike chases down a loose ball ahead of the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart.

Getty Images

The Storm are 2-0 against the Liberty this season, and with a season sweep of the defending champs, Seattle will be in strong position to clinch a playoff spot.

The fact that the Storm could go 3-0 against the Liberty this season, yet are still fighting for a playoff spot, is illustrative of their season. The highs are high. The lows are low. That’s left them in the mediocre middle, a disappointing spot for a vet-heavy team with championship ambitions.

Seattle has been a beneficiary of the Liberty’s injury issues, and that again could be the case on Friday night. In the first matchup, New York was without Jonquel Jones or Sabrina Ionescu. Jones again missed the second game, and Ionescu, along with Nyara Sabally, is questionable for the third and final contest. New York also is stumbling into Seattle on a two-game losing streak, dropping the first two games of their three-game West Coast road trip.

The conditions are right for another Seattle win, even if that might be an ominous sign for this team.

As Breanna Stewart expressed after the Liberty’s last loss, halfcourt offense is a current challenge for her team. The Storm have the personnel to make the Liberty’s problems persist. Gabby Williams and Brittney Sykes are two of the best perimeter defenders, Skylar Diggins will never deny an opportunity to be a pest, Nneka Ogwumike possesses an elite defensive IQ and Ezi Magbegor has the length to bother any opponent. So, can they put it all together?