You Should Watch The WNBA This Weekend
A four-way tie for two playoff spots — and another team one game back — is cool in my opinion
If you are more of a reader of my Thursday posts than my Monday ones, you may be staying away from my women’s basketball coverage. That’s OK and I’m glad you are reading any of what I have to say, but today I won’t let you escape it, because the final four days of the WNBA regular season are going to be by far the most interesting thing going on in the sports world.
Because the WNBA has a much shorter season than the NBA, NHL and the godforsaken MLB, there are often very tight races to get into the postseason. This year, though, that has gone to the absolute extreme with just two games remaining for each team.
Eight out of 12 teams make the playoffs in the WNBA, hence the not-very-good records scrapping it out for the final spots. Still, to have four teams completely tied, and another a game out, is truly remarkable and is going to make for some incredible viewing.
Made even better is the fact that two of the teams tied — the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty — finish the year by playing each other twice in matchups that guarantee (I think?) that one of them will make it in.
For those of you who have not watched the WNBA, either this year or ever, I wanted to give you a few sentences on the five teams battling for the final two spots so that you can quickly pick a bandwagon to jump onto this weekend.
Minnesota Lynx
This is the easiest pitch of them all: The Lynx started the year 3-13 and looked dead in the water before finding new life around star forward Sylvia Fowles, who announced before the season began that this would be her last, ending a hall-of-fame career.
Thanks to wins in 4 of the last 5, and tiebreakers over every other team here (will get to that), the Lynx appear to have survived the horrid start and could just need one more win to get into the postseason. If all of this wasn’t enough, the team has also welcomed back one of its best players — Napheesa Collier — who has rushed back from birthing a child to play with Fowles one last time. Insanely cool team.
Games remaining: Friday vs. Seattle (ESPN2), Sunday @ Connecticut (ABC)
Atlanta Dream
If you care about me, root for the Dream. If you read these as ammunition to make me feel pain, the Dream is not the team for you.
Oh, you want roster info? How about a team that was expected to be miles out of playoff contention that is overachieving thanks to a new head coach (Tanisha Wright), the no-brainer Rookie of the Year (Rhyne Howard), another rookie that has become a starter through injuries (Naz Hillmon) and a ragtag group with some of the best vibes you’ll ever see.
The Dream surged out of the gates and are trying to survive a laundry list of injuries to skate into the playoffs. If they do, Wright will almost certainly earn Coach of the Year for doing the unthinkable. This is a team that, long term, is on the rise, but for now is trying to finish off a miracle.
Games remaining: Friday vs. New York (CBS Sports), Sunday @ New York (ESPN3)
New York Liberty
Think the Atlanta Dream but with more expectations to win this year. New York has been down in the dumps in recent years, but has been ignited by superstar guard Sabrina Ionescu, who is absolutely as cool and as good as everyone said she would be. When Sabrina is in the zone, New York can beat anyone, and the Liberty have proven that in spurts all season.
On the flip side, the Liberty can go ice cold in an instant, which is why they now likely need to sweep the Dream to get into the postseason. Past Ionescu, Natasha Howard has been excellent, 6-10 center Han Xu is great inside and also can bury a three, while midseason pickup Marine Johannes continues to make plays that blow my mind.
This is an extremely fun team and I would have loved to see them continue. Unfortunately, go Dream.
Games remaining: Friday @ Atlanta (CBS Sports), Sunday vs. Atlanta (ESPN3)
Phoenix Mercury
The Mercury are a season removed from making the WNBA Finals, but to say this year is a letdown would be painting with strokes far too broad to even begin. For staters, this is Brittney Griner’s team, a situation I likely do not need to dive further into for you all to understand. Second, Diana Taurasi, one of the greatest players of all-time, is out with an injury. Another star veteran, Tina Charles, left the team in the middle of the season. Star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith just missed last game for personal reasons.
This team has had enough turmoil to fill a book, and it’s hard to feel anything but sadness for Mercury fans, and for the roster that has had to deal with so much more than basketball. Despite all of that, this team is still in position to likely get in with a 2-0 finish. It’s hard to root against it considering everything that has happened to get here.
Games remaining: Friday vs. Dallas (NBA TV), Sunday vs. Chicago (Prime Video)
Los Angeles Sparks
My advice to you would be to not pick the Sparks, who have almost no chance of making it, but maybe you have the flair of picking teams that will only hurt you. Trust me, I know.
If you do pick the Sparks, you should know they’ve had all the turmoil of the Mercury without gaining any of the sympathy from me. I’ll let you read about everything involving Liz Cambage this season, but she’s gone now. Chennedy Carter might as well be because she’s not seeing the court at all despite her abilities. There are some good players here, namely Nneka Ogwumike who absolutely rocks, but this team has underperformed on expectations and is in need of a 2-0 week over tough competition, plus some help. Good luck.
Games remaining: Thursday vs. Connecticut (Twitter), Sunday vs. Dallas (Spectrum Sportsnet)
Tiebreakers
Since these teams are so close, tiebreakers are very likely to come into play. Here are those rules:
And here are the head-to-head records of each of these teams (via Alexa Philippou of ESPN plus the Lynx’s win over the Mercury last night):
Minnesota: 2-1 vs Atlanta, 2-1 vs New York, 4-0 vs Phoenix, 2-1 vs Los Angeles
Atlanta: 1-2 vs Minnesota, 1-1 vs New York (2 games left), 2-1 vs Phoenix, 2-1 vs Los Angeles
New York: 1-2 vs Minnesota, 1-1 vs Atlanta (2 games left), 1-2 vs Phoenix, 2-1 vs Los Angeles
Phoenix: 0-4 vs Minnesota, 1-2 vs Atlanta, 2-1 vs New York, 2-2 vs Los Angeles
Los Angeles: 1-2 vs Minnesota, 1-2 vs Atlanta, 1-2 vs New York, 2-2 vs Phoenix
Basically, Minnesota is in great shape in any tiebreaker situation, so one more win should put the Lynx over the top. On the other end, Los Angeles needs a miracle thanks to owning no tiebreakers over the top three teams in the battle.
Other than that, I am hesitant to make any “WIN IF” scenarios because of the secondary tiebreaker, and I will not go through and check for that one. I’m hoping the Dream could get in at 1-1, something especially true if Phoenix goes 1-1 thanks to Atlanta’s better record against the Mercury than New York has.
You see how crazy this bubble is? I am talking about the Dream’s record against Phoenix as a way to get in over New York, a three-team triangle of insanity that is just 60 percent of the madness that is happening over the next four days.
Tonight, the Sparks fight to stay alive in the race, then Friday will show if none of it mattered. Saturday is a day to breathe, then every team plays Sunday to decide it all. Almost every game is on a watchable channel (thank the heavens), so there are no excuses.
If you choose to watch preseason football over these games, you shouldn’t see heaven. Go Dream.
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