WNBA standings, playoff picture, schedule: Liberty clinch playoff spot; Lottery teams becoming clear
Only one month remains in the 2024 WNBA regular season
By Jack Maloney Aug 21, 2024 at 4:24 pm ET • 6 min read
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Only one month remains in the 2024 WNBA regular season. So far, the New York Liberty are the only team to clinch a playoff spot, and no teams have officially been eliminated from contention. There’s still plenty to play for down the stretch.
On Tuesday, the Liberty picked up another comfortable win over the Wings, while the Storm held off the Mystics and the Sun pulled away from the Sparks down the stretch in a special game at TD Garden in Boston. There are two more games in store on Wednesday night, including a showdown between the Lynx and Aces.
As a refresher, the top eight teams, regardless of conference affiliation, make the playoffs in the WNBA. Under the current playoff format, the teams are placed into a standard bracket with the No. 1 seed playing No. 8 in the first round, No. 2 vs. No. 7 and so on. Teams will play a best-of-three series in the first round and best-of-five series in the semifinals and Finals. Notably, the first round is a 2-1 format, which means the higher seed gets the first two games at home, while the lower seed gets the deciding Game 3 at home should the series go that far. In the semifinals and Finals, it is a standard 2-2-1 format, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2 and 5, if necessary.
Here’s everything you need to know about the current playoff picture, including the standings and key tiebreakers:
Standings
New York Liberty (24-4) — Playoff spot clinchedConnecticut Sun (20-7)Minnesota Lynx (19-8)Las Vegas Aces (17-9)Seattle Storm (18-10)Phoenix Mercury (15-13)Indiana Fever (13-15)Chicago Sky (11-16)Atlanta Dream (9-17)Dallas Wings (6-21)Los Angeles Sparks (6-22)Washington Mystics (6-22)
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.
Liberty alone at the top
1. New York Liberty (24-4)
Tiebreakers: vs. Sun (3-0)
The Liberty have been the best team in the league this season and have already clinched a playoff spot. The took care of the Wings on Tuesday to extend their winning streak to seven games. Only the Sun are within 3.5 games of them, and the Liberty have already won the season series between the clubs, making it essentially a 4.5-game advantage.
Key remaining games: vs. Sun, Aug. 24
A four-team battle in the middle of the pack
2. Connecticut Sun (20-7)
Tiebreakers: vs. Liberty (0-3); vs. Lynx (2-0); vs. Storm (0-1); vs. Aces (0-1)
The Sun traveled to Boston for a home game at TD Garden in front of a sold-out crowd. They pulled away from the Sparks in the fourth quarter to become the second team to reach the 20-win mark this season and keep the Lynx at an arm’s length in the race for second.
Key remaining games: at Liberty, Aug. 24; vs. Storm, Sept. 1; vs. Storm, Sept. 3; vs. Aces, Sept. 6; at Aces, Sept. 15; vs. Lynx, Sept. 17
3. Minnesota Lynx (19-8)
Tiebreakers: vs. Sun (0-2); vs. Storm (3-1); vs. Aces (1-1)
The Lynx destroyed the Mystics on Saturday to make it two wins from two since they resumed play after the break. They’re keeping pace with the Sun in the race for the No. 2 seed and have created a little bit of breathing room from the Storm and Aces below them.
Key remaining games: at Aces, Aug. 21; vs. Aces, Aug. 23; at Sun, Sept. 17
4. Las Vegas Aces (17-9)
Tiebreakers: vs. Sun (1-0); vs. Lynx (1-1); vs. Storm (2-1)
The Aces bounced back from their loss to the Liberty by crushing the lowly Sparks on Sunday. A’ja Wilson continued her brilliant scoring season by pouring in 34 points in that one. She’s averaging 27.3 points per game for the season, which would be the best mark of all time.
Key remaining games: vs. Lynx, Aug. 21; at Lynx, Aug. 23; at Sun, Sept. 6; at Liberty, Sept. 8; vs. Sun, Sept. 15; at Storm, Sept. 17
5. Seattle Storm (18-10)
Tiebreakers: vs. Sun (1-0); vs. Lynx (1-3); vs. Aces (1-2)
The Storm finally got back in the win column on Tuesday, as they held off the Mystics behind 24 points from Nneka Ogwumike. That was a big response from the Storm after two bad losses to resume the season. They are now percentage points behind the Aces for fourth.
Key remaining games: vs. Liberty, Aug. 30; at Sun, Sept. 1; at Sun, Sept. 3; at Liberty, Sept. 5; vs. Aces, Sept. 17
Mercury (somewhat) comfortabe in sixth
6. Phoenix Mercury (15-13)
Tiebreakers: vs. Fever (0-3); vs. Sky (2-0)
The Mercury got back to winning ways Sunday with another blowout victory over the Sky, giving them the season series between the teams and essentially eliminated any concern that they could slip down to eighth. Their only threat for the No. 6 seed now is the Fever, who are two games back, but do own the tiebreaker.
Key remaining games: at Sky, Sept. 15
Fever, Sky in control of final two spots
7. Indiana Fever (13-15)
Tiebreakers: vs. Mercury (3-0); vs. Sky (2-1); vs. Dream (2-0)
The Fever got off to a 2-9 start thanks to a diabolical schedule that saw them play 11 games — the majority of which were against title contenders — in 20 days. Since then, they’re 11-6 and have climbed into seventh place. They’ve beaten the Mercury and Storm since play resumed and Caitlin Clark set the new rookie assist record.
Key remaining games: at Dream, Aug. 26; at Sky, Aug. 30; vs. Dream, Sept. 8
8. Chicago Sky (11-16)
Tiebreakers: vs. Mercury (0-2); vs. Fever (1-2); vs. Dream (2-1)
The Sky’s difficult start to the second half of the season continued Sunday with another bad loss to the Mercury. Their lead over the Dream for the eighth and final playoff spot has shrunk from three games to 1.5 in less than a week, and now they have to play the Sun and the Aces.
Key remaining games: vs. Fever, Aug. 30; vs. Mercury, Sept. 15; at Dream, Sept. 17
Dream suddenly in the mix
9. Atlanta Dream (9-17)
Tiebreakers: vs. Fever (0-2); vs. Sky (1-2)
Tina Charles has turned back the clock for the Dream to lead them to two huge upset wins over the Storm and Sun. She had the game-winner versus Seattle and went off for 22 points and 15 rebounds against Connecticut. All of a sudden, the Dream are right back in the mix for a playoff spot.
Key remaining games: vs Fever, Aug. 26; at Fever, Sept. 8; vs. Sky, Sept. 17
A clear gap at the bottom
10. Dallas Wings (6-21)
A number of teams have been hurt by injuries this summer, but none more so than the Wings, who are enduring a season from hell. Satou Sabally, Natasha Howard, Maddy Siegrist and Jaelyn Brown all missed extended time prior to the break. While the Wings are finally getting healthy, they have likely dug themselves too deep of a hole to make a playoff run.
10. Los Angeles Sparks (6-22)
The Sparks suffered another defeat Tuesday, this time to the Sun. They’ve lost all four games since play resumed and five games in a row overall. Now 5.5 games back of a playoff spot, it’s time for them to start hoping for some more good luck in the lottery.
12. Washington Mystics (6-22)
Brittney Sykes and Shakira Austin are back in action, but that has not been enough for the Mystics, who have lost all three games since the season resumed. As frustrating as this season has been, a trip to the lottery is in the franchise’s best interests long term.
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