WNBA playoff picture: Standings, schedule as Fever secure crucial win over Sparks to solidify playoff hopes

Less than two weeks remain in the WNBA regular season and the playoff push has produced some thrilling action. That trend continued late on Friday night when the Indiana Fever secured a one-point win over the Los Angeles Sparks in a game with massive playoff implications. Odyssey Sims‘ go-ahead basket with 13 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winner as the Fever solidified their playoff position. 

Each team has seven or fewer games remaining, as four of the eight playoff spots have now been secured. The Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury joined the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces on Friday. While the Lynx are the clear favorite for the No. 1 seed, no team is locked into a spot. 

The action will continue Saturday with a huge four-game slate:

WNBA games can also be streamed live on Fubo (try for free). Odds provided by FanDuel.

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, 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. 

StandingsMinnesota Lynx (30-8) — Clinched playoff berthLas Vegas Aces (26-14) — Clinched playoff berthAtlanta Dream (25-14) — Clinched playoff berthPhoenix Mercury (24-14) — Clinched playoff berthNew York Liberty (24-15)Indiana Fever (21-18)Seattle Storm (21-19)Golden State Valkyries (19-18)Los Angeles Sparks (17-20)Washington Mystics (16-23)Connecticut Sun (10-28) — Eliminated from playoff contentionChicago Sky (9-29) — Eliminated from playoff contentionDallas Wings (9-31) — 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 built a 21-point lead on the Storm on Thursday and seemed to be cruising to a victory that would have officially given them the No. 1 seed. Instead, they collapsed in the second half and had to watch Skylar Diggins troll them with the electric slide afterward. Still, the Lynx have a five-game lead on the Aces for the top spot. 

Aces beat Dream to take control of second place2. Las Vegas Aces (26-14)3. Atlanta Dream (25-14)4. Phoenix Mercury (24-14)5. New York Liberty (24-15)

The Aces continued their incredible hot streak on Wednesday by beating the Dream in Atlanta to win their 12th consecutive game and take control of second place. The Dream bounced back with a win on Friday to secure a playoff spot, and the idle Mercury also got in on Friday. Just 1½ games separate these four teams. 

Mystics, Sparks fading in battle for final three spots6. Indiana Fever (21-18)7. Seattle Storm (21-19)8. Golden State Valkyries (19-18)9. Los Angeles Sparks (17-20)10. Washington Mystics (16-23)

In a thriller at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, the Fever came back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Sparks on a late go-ahead bucket from Odyssey Sims. The Fever are now three games up on the ninth-place Sparks, while the Sparks have fallen two games back of the eighth-place Valkyries and now have a lot of work to do to make the playoffs.  

The Mystics were right in the mix a week ago, but have now lost five games in a row to fall 4½ games behind the eighth-place Valkyries. That’s too big a gap for them to make up at this point and they will soon be confirmed as a lottery participant. 

Lottery bound11. Connecticut Sun (10-28)12. Chicago Sky (9-29)13. Dallas Wings (9-31)

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.