The tightest of margins will determine more than half of the seeds in the WNBA playoff bracket.
The Atlanta Dream inched a half-game ahead of the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury for the No. 2 seed with a win on Friday night.
The Indiana Fever are now a half-game in front of the Seattle Storm for the No. 7 seed after their respective results. The Los Angeles Sparks’ loss to Atlanta also gave Indiana and Seattle some breathing room at the bottom of the playoff standings.
Updated WNBA Playoff Picture
Atlanta owns a very brief half-game lead over Las Vegas and Phoenix for the No. 2 seed.
The harsh reality for the Dream is they are likely fighting for the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket.
Las Vegas finishes with two home games against the Chicago Sky and a road trip to face the Los Angeles Sparks, who will probably be eliminated before Thursday.
The Aces finished Thursday ahead of the Dream and Mercury in the standings on a tiebreaker. The same result is likely to happen at the end of the regular season.
Atlanta’s likely landing spot is the No. 3 seed since it finishes with a home and road game against the Connecticut Sun.
Phoenix has three games left, but the Sparks could still be alive by the time they meet the Mercury on Tuesday.
There’s still a glimmer of hope for the Sparks, who must win out against the Dallas Wings, Phoenix and Las Vegas and get some help from the opponents of the Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm just to have a chance.
Seattle lost to the Liberty on Friday to help out both the Fever and Sparks. Indiana is now a half-game up for the No. 7 seed, while the Sparks are two games back with three contests left.
The Storm must beat the Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday, their regular-season finale, to avoid a late push from the Sparks.
Indiana will likely get a playoff spot because of its final two games is against the Washington Mystics. The other is against a Minnesota Lynx squad that already locked in the top seed.