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WNBA playoff picture, standings, projections: Liberty gain ground on Aces; Mercury, Storm eliminated – CBS Sports
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The 2023 WNBA regular season is winding down, with less than two weeks to go until the regular season wraps up Sept. 10. As expected, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty have separated themselves from the pack, but there remains plenty to play for.
At the top of the standings, the Aces have set a new regular-season wins record with 30, and sit in first place ahead of the Liberty, though that advantage is down to 1.5 games after New York’s big win on Monday. Below them, the Connecticut Sun have carved out a big gap on either side of the No. 3 seed, and are almost certain to finish there, while the Dallas Wings have created some separation in the race for the No. 4 seed.
After that, the seeds are completely up for grabs. There are three teams — the Atlanta Dream, Minnesota Lynx and Washington Mystics — sitting at 17-19 with four games to play, and they currently occupy fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. The Chicago Sky, meanwhile have jumped back in front of the Los Angeles Sparks via the season tiebreaker, as the teams have identical 15-21 records.
The lottery will feature the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury, each of whom were eliminated on Sunday. While the Indiana Fever will likely join them this week, they staved off elimination for the time being with a thrilling comeback win over the Dream.
Here’s a closer look at how things stand:
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.
For example, with the three teams currently tied at 17-9: the Dream are 4-1 against the Lynx and Mystics, the Lynx are 2-3 against the Dream and Mystics and the Mystics are 2-4 against the Dream and Lynx. Thus, the order is Dream, Lynx, Mystics.
1. Las Vegas Aces (31-6)
The Aces were cruising to the No. 1 seed until a few weeks ago, when they started to run out of gas and lost back-to-back games for the first time all season. They got a few days off and returned to Las Vegas on Thursday, though, and looked much more like their usual selves in a big win over the Mystics to push their advantage in the race for the top spot back to two games.
2. New York Liberty (28-7)
The Liberty are rolling. They took down the Aces on Monday to extend their winning streak to four games and are now just two games behind their rivals in the race for the top spot in the standings and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. While they’ll need some help to complete the comeback, they’ve given themselves a real chance with their terrific play as of late.
3. Connecticut Sun (24-11)
No one expected the Sun to be this good this season without Jonquel Jones, but they’ve clearly established themselves as the “best of the rest” behind the Aces and Liberty. They have clinched a playoff spot, and are now almost certain to finish with the No. 3 seed after their win over the Mercury on Thursday.
4. Dallas Wings (19-16)
The Wings got back on track with a win over the Mercury on Sunday, which helped create some breathing room in the race for the No. 4 seed and put them on the verge of clinching a playoff spot for the third consecutive season — their longest streak since they still played in Detroit. All they need now is a win or a Sky loss and they will officially be in.
6. Atlanta Dream (17-19)
This has been a roller coaster season for the Dream. When they’re good, they’re really good, but when they’re bad, they’re really bad. They’ve had winning streaks of seven and three games, but also four different three-game losing streaks. They are likely going to snap their franchise-record four-season playoff drought, but their performances in recent weeks have been concerning.
6. Minnesota Lynx (17-19)
After a brutal 0-6 start, the Lynx have gone 17-13 to climb into a playoff spot. But after briefly sitting in fifth place, they’ve dropped down to seventh after two consecutive defeats, including a key one to the Mystics on Tuesday. They still have some work to do to avoid a dreaded first-round matchup with the Aces or Liberty.
7. Washington Mystics (17-19)
The Mystics got off to a terrific start, but have been decimated by injuries in the last few months, which resulted in a free-fall down the standings. They are finally starting to get healthy, though, with Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and Ariel Atkins all featuring in recent games.
8. Chicago Sky (15-21)
Perhaps no team in the league is as desperate to make the playoffs as the Sky, who do not have a first-round pick in the 2024 draft as a result of former head coach and GM James Wade’s short-sighted offseason. A late-season skid left them with a lot of work to do, but they’ve suddenly won three of their last four to jump back into eighth place via the tiebreaker over the Sparks.
8. Los Angeles Sparks (15-21)
After an incredible six-game winning streak to surge into the playoff picture, the Sparks have dropped their last three contests and are now on the outside looking in. Their defeat to the Storm on Thursday was especially rough, as it represented a real chance to get back on a track before a brual three-game stretch against the Mystics, Sun and Liberty.
10. Indiana Fever (11-24)
The Fever kept their season alive with a thrilling comeback win over the Dream on Sunday. While they will soon be eliminated from playoff contention for a seventh consecutive season, they’ve won as many games this summer as 2021 and 2022 combined, and there are some positive signs for the future.
11. Seattle Storm (11-25)
The Storm were officially eliminated from the playoffs after their loss to the Sky on Sunday, ending a seven-year postseason streak. This was unfortunately to be expected given the departures of Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird in the offseason, and a trip to the lottery will help the Storm reset for the future.
12. Phoenix Mercury (9-27)
The Mercury’s claim to the longest active postseason streak in the league is no more. For the first time since 2012, they were eliminated from the playoffs with their defeat against the Wings on Sunday. This group needs a fresh infusion of talent, though, so heading to the lottery is for the best.
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