WNBA postseason race heats up with teams jockeying for playoff position behind Minnesota
Minnesota has looked like the best team all season even with star forward Napheesa Collier sidelined for the past few weeks with a right ankle sprain. The Lynx have won five straight and hold a 6 1/2-game lead in the standings heading into Tuesday night's game at New York.
The Lynx look in great shape to have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, which could be key since they lost a decisive Game 5 in overtime to the Liberty in the WNBA Finals last year.
Atlanta, New York, Phoenix and Las Vegas are all within 1 1/2 games of one another for the second through fifth seeds. No team has been hotter lately than Las Vegas.
The Aces have won seven straight heading into Tuesday night's game against Atlanta. The streak started after a record blowout loss to Minnesota on Aug. 2. Reigning MVP A'ja Wilson has been huge during the winning streak, averaging 26.1 points and 13.3 rebounds. She topped the 30-point mark three times in the past four games.
The Dream have a gauntlet of a schedule in front of them, with two games against Las Vegas and contests against Minnesota and New York over the next eight days.
Indiana, Golden State, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington all are vying for the sixth through eighth seeds. Only a few games separate them.
The league switched its first-round format this season, with the best-of-three series having each team get at least one home game. In the past, the higher-seeded team would host the first two games of the series with a deciding Game 3 if necessary being on the lower-seeded team's home court.
Power poll rankings
Minnesota remained the No. 1 team in the poll, with Atlanta still second. Las Vegas jumped two spots to third. New York and Phoenix followed the Aces. Golden State and Indiana were the next two. Washington, Los Angeles and Seattle came after the Fever. Dallas, Connecticut and Chicago rounded out the poll.
Looking to the future
The Cleveland expansion WNBA team hired Allison Howard as its president, the franchise announced Tuesday. Howard will continue to serve as executive vice president and chief commercial officer for Rock Entertainment Group and the Cleveland Cavaliers, where she oversees corporate and ticket sales revenue and strategy, corporate partnership, membership sales and service, venue experience, ticket operations and youth sports programming.
Player of the week
Wilson of Las Vegas was the AP player of the week for the second consecutive week. She averaged 27 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks to help the Aces win all three of their games last week. Other players receiving votes included Sonia Citron of Washington and Alyssa Thomas of Phoenix.
Game of the week
New York at Atlanta, Saturday. In a week that features games between Atlanta-Las Vegas, Phoenix-Las Vegas and the Liberty at the Dream, there might be a clearer divide among the top teams. The Liberty have rallied twice to beat the Dream, overcoming double-digit deficits in the victories.
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
49ers Fans Fired Up Over Christian McCaffrey's New Post
Christian McCaffrey had a forgettable season with the San Francisco 49ers last year. After missing the first half of the campaign due to a calf strain, the two-time All-Pro running back finally made his season debut in Week 10. McCaffrey's run ended, however, after just four games, because the three-time Pro Bowler suffered a season-ending PCL 29-year-old has since been putting in a lot of work behind the scenes ahead of what he's hoping will be a bounce-back year in 2025. On Monday, McCaffrey had Niners fans all fired up after he shared a few photos of his work during the offseason. Supporters of the 49ers could not help but get excited for what's ahead.'locked in cmc gonna be a force to be reckoned with 🔥🔥' a comment on Instagram read.'RB1 🔥 how quickly they forgot,' another said.'comeback player of the year loading🏆' declared a user. 'Sliding this season to a Lombardi trophy🔥🔥🔥🔥' a reaction read.'OK CMC GO GET WHATS YOURS DOG,' said another.'Comeback season 🔥' a fan wrote. McCaffrey was heartbroken after his season came to an abrupt and unfortunate end last term, and the fans shared the exact same sentiment as well. This is exactly why there's a lot of excitement surrounding his return in 2025. McCaffrey, who saw the birth of his first child with his wife Olivia Culpo during the offseason, did not suit up for San Francisco's preseason opener when they suffered a 30-9 loss to the Denver Broncos on August 9. He was, however, a 'full-go' at training camp, and head coach Kyle Shanahan expects McCaffrey to be ready for their Week 1 matchup against the Seattle long as he is able to remain healthy, 2025 could be a big year for story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Giants-Patriots, preseason Week 3: Live updates
Pre-game updates This might be Tommy DeVito's swan song as a Giant this evening. I would expect whatever crowd there is at MetLife Stadium to show him some love. Want a hint who will/will not make the roster? Watch the playing time, especially look for the guys who don't get in until near the end of the game, or don't get in at all. They will likely be getting their walking papers soon. I'd expect a decent amount of Jaxson Dart. After this game, we probably won't see the rookie quarterback for a while. I know many are looking forward to seeing Cam Skattebo tonight. I doubt he plays much, if at all. The Giants won't gamble with his troublesome hamstring. I still don't have a good read on the last couple of roster spots at cornerback or wide receiver. Let's see what happens against the Patriots. The New York Giants host the New England Patriots Thursday night at MetLife Stadium in the preseason finale for both teams. The 2-0 Giants will be seeking a perfect preseason. Kickoff will be at 8 p.m. ET, with the game broadcast nationally on Amazon Prime and locally on NBC-4 New York. Giants coach Brian Daboll did not indicate during the week whether or not healthy front-line players would play in the game. The Giants have personnel decisions to make all across the roster with cutdowns from 90 players to 53 needing to be made by Tuesday, Aug. 26. What happens Thursday night will likely impact several of those decisions. 'This week will be important for a lot of guys,' Daboll said. One player likely to see at least some action is rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart. With Russell Wilson being the Week 1 starter, this could be the last opportunity for a long while for the Giants to Dart, the No. 25 pick in the draft, competitive reps. You have to believe they will.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Why Won't Cowboys Rumor On Micah Parsons Trade To Packers Go Away?
Last week, we saw rumors swirling on social media that the Green Bay Packers could be a potential landing spot for Dallas Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons should the franchise entertain a trade for the All-Pro. We know they won't, but let's play this thing out. We know that the Cowboys have Micah under contract for the 2025 season, plus two franchise tags if they want to exercise, so a trade makes zero sense here. Owner Jerry Jones stated Micah's trade request was "part of negotiations" but now, it does seem like there is a little more runway to this rumor. Where there's smoke, there's fire? If Micah and his representation are genuinely out on playing for Dallas and want a trade, then we can only imagine how that would be received by the front office, and as far as trading Micah to the Packers? Do people really think the Cowboys would trade one of the best defensive players in football to a conference rival? Yeah, no, that would be a quick phone call. But our man Mike Fisher mentioned it last week. ... And now? It is worth pointing out that now, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport thinks the Packers would be a good landing spot for Parsons. This comes roughly a week after the initial "very serious" Packers offer for Micah. While we still take all of this with a grain of salt, and fully believe that Parsons will sign on the dotted line ... eventually, the longer he goes unsigned, the more legs rumors like this get. Are we completely shutting down the idea to the Packers? The NFL is a never say never business, so no we aren't. But are we concerned Parsons won't have a star on his helmet in 2025? Right now, no, but if Micah starts missing regular-season games, then I'll take this a little more seriously. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
