The Seattle Storm lost to Indiana Fever 95-75 on Tuesday night, a Fever team that was without several players, including stars Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. Though Aaliyah Boston netted 27 points and was unstoppable most of the way.

The loss prevented the Storm from taking a two-game lead over Los Angeles for the final playoff spot, instead it’s a tenuous one-game lead with just five games remaining in the regular season.

With the top seed, Minnesota, looming in a Thursday matchup.

The Storm showed resilience, bouncing back from a six-game losing streak to win three in a row and four out of five. But, the loss to Indiana marks a missed opportunity to really solidify their playoff standings.

Entering Wednesday, the Storm is in the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot. A win would have vaulted them to sixth, ahead of Indiana.

The playoff race essentially breaks down to the sixth through ninth place teams being separated by just two games. Indiana is in sixth, Golden State is in seventh, the Storm checks in at eighth, while the Sparks are one game behind the Storm for final playoff spot.

The Mystics are 3.5 games behind the Storm, a long shot but not mathematically eliminated just yet.

The bright spot here? The Storm features an all-star-filled lineup with four WNBA all-stars from 2025 in the starting rotation. Dominique Malonga has a strong case to be sixth player of the year, the 19-year old Storm rookie is playing outstanding basketball and joined as a spark plug off the bench by Erica Wheeler.

All of that even just on the surface screams potential. A potential that we have yet to see at its fullest.

So the season comes down to this:

Will the Storm meet that potential with its star players and playoff experience to put it together at the right time and give its loyal fan base a memory to last a lifetime?

Or, will it be too late?

It’s hard to bet against this team in the long run, but in a 13-team league loaded with talent, missed opportunities can be costly.

Buckle up for what promises to be an exciting fight to the finish when the Storm wraps up its regular season on Sept. 9.