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WNBA playoff picture, standings, projections: Wings clinch playoff berth; Liberty secure a top-two seed – 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. Below them, the Connecticut Sun are now locked into the No. 3 seed, while the Dallas Wings have created some separation in fourth place and have also clinched a playoff berth.
After that, the seeds are completely up for grabs. At the moment there are two main duels going on. One between the Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream, who are separated by one game and continually changing spots in the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 slots. And another between the Chicago Sky and Los Angeles Sparks, who have identical 15-21 records, and trying to get the eighth and final spot.
The lottery will feature the Indiana Fever, Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury, who have all been eliminated. The latest casualty was the Fever who hung on for much longer than anyone expected heading into the season, but were officially knocked out with their defeat to the Wings on Friday.
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.
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.
2. New York Liberty (28-7)
The Liberty are rolling. They took down the Aces on Monday and crushed the Sun on Friday to extend their winning streak to five games and clinch at least a top-two seed. While they’re starting to run out of time to catch the Aces for the top spot, their deficit is down to 1.5 games, and this recent hot streak has given them a chance.
3. Connecticut Sun (25-12)
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 after their defeat to the Liberty on Friday are locked into the No. 3 seed.
4. Dallas Wings (20-16)
The Wings are going back to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and have their first 20-win campaign since 2008, when they still played in Detroit. They clinched both on Friday with their win over the Fever, which came thanks to a career-high 40 points from Satou Sabally.
5. Minnesota Lynx (18-19)
After a brutal 0-6 start, the Lynx have gone 18-13 to climb into a playoff spot. They got a huge win on Friday in overtime over the Dream, which has, for the moment, moved them up to fifth place and out of a dreaded first-round matchup against the Aces, Liberty or Sun.
6. 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.
7. Atlanta Dream (17-20)
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.
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 (11-25)
The Fever were knocked out of the playoffs on Friday with their defeat to the Wings. But while they’ll be in the lottery for a seventh consecutive season, this isn’t the same old Fever. 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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