WNBA playoff picture starting to come into focus as Liberty clinch top seed and Minnesota second

[September 18, 2024]  By DOUG FEINBERG

More than half of the WNBA playoff seeds are set with the New York Liberty clinching the No. 1 seed on Tuesday night.

The rest of the postseason matchups will be determined when the regular season closes out on Thursday night.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) works against Dallas Wings guard Jaelyn Brown, right, in the second half of a WNBA basketball game, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The Liberty topped the Washington Mystics to earn homecourt throughout the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history.

“It was important for us, one of our goals we set out,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “We still have to take care of business in the playoffs, but getting home court, we have a great arena and great fans. We want to play in front of our fans as much as we can.”

The Minnesota Lynx clinched the No. 2 seed with their victory over Connecticut. Minnesota is the hottest team right now winning 13 of 14 since the Olympic break. They'll face Phoenix in the opening round of the playoffs which begin Sunday.

The Sun are currently in third with a one-game lead over Las Vegas, which assured itself no worse than the four seed with a victory over Seattle on Tuesday night. The Aces hold the tiebreaker with Connecticut.

With the loss the Storm are assured of the fifth seed. Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever are locked into sixth and will be on the road either in Connecticut or Las Vegas for the opening round.

The final playoff team is still undecided. The Atlanta Dream currently hold the eighth spot after beating Chicago on Tuesday.

Washington and the Sky are both a game behind the Dream. Atlanta closes the season at New York on Thursday, Chicago visits Connecticut and Washington hosts Indiana that night. The Dream need to either win or have both Chicago and Washington lose to advance. The Mystics need a win and a loss by Atlanta. Chicago needs a victory and losses by both Washington and Atlanta to reach the postseason.

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