Three-quarters of the way through the WNBA season, the playoff picture is starting to take shape. One of the most interesting fault lines will be between fourth and fifth place in the standings, as teams battle for home court in the first round of the playoffs.
The New York Liberty have a clear path to the top overall seed. Although they won’t claim it as an accomplishment, entering the playoffs with the best record means something. Over the past seven seasons, only once has a team won the WNBA title (No. 5 seed Chicago Sky in 2021) without having been or being tied for the best record in the league. The Liberty are two games clear of Connecticut and own the tiebreaker, which means they’d have to lose three more games than the Sun over the final 10 to fall out of the top spot.
The battle for the No. 2 seed is slightly more contested. Connecticut is one game up on Minnesota, also with the tiebreaker in hand, so the Lynx would have to outdo the Sun by two games. However, they play each other once during this final stretch, so Minnesota can make up one game then. The Lynx also have the second-easiest remaining schedule, with no games left against the Seattle Storm or the Las Vegas Aces, and Connecticut has four. Considering Minnesota’s recent run, I’d wager that the Lynx…
