NEW YORK – It took until the final day of the 2024 WNBA season for the playoff brackets to be finalized, but the Atlanta Dream secured the eighth and final postseason spot with a 78-67 win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.

Atlanta needed a win entering the evening to secure its second straight playoff spot. Although New York secured the top seed on Tuesday night, the Liberty still played with their usual rotation in the first half and began the third quarter with four of their usual starters still in action.

Dream center Tina Charles finished the win with 10 points and 10 rebounds, setting new WNBA career records for rebounds and double-doubles in the game. She surpassed Sylvia Fowles’ 4,006-rebound mark in just over three minutes in the first quarter and Fowles’ 193-double mark midway through the third quarter. Charles, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun, is the only player in WNBA history to ever record more than 4,000 rebounds and 7,000 career points.

Dream wing Rhyne Howard and forward Naz Hillmon led Atlanta with 13 points each.

After winning for the first time since 2013-14 and making consecutive postseason appearances, the Dream don’t have far to travel. They’ve packed up for a week-long trip to New York and will face the Liberty again on Sunday to open the postseason.

“This year is special. With everything that’s happened, it’s definitely been the toughest year for us,” coach Tanisha Wright said. “I’m really proud of our athletes for continuing to fight and never giving up, because I think after the season we’ve had, it’s easy to give up… They’ve fought all year no matter what our circumstances were, no matter who was there for us, and that’s a special group over there.”

There was potential for some madness on Thursday night. The Washington Mystics could have clinched a playoff spot with a win, the Dream losing, and the Chicago Sky winning. The Sky would have clinched the final playoff spot if they won and both Atlanta and Washington lost. Atlanta would have clinched a spot even with a loss due to Chicago’s loss.

The Mystics, playing in front of a new WNBA record 20,711 fans, defeated the Indiana Fever 92-91 on Thursday. Indiana had already secured the 6th seed and each of its five starting players played 20 minutes or less. The Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky 87-54, knocking Chicago out of the postseason race and securing the 3rd seed. Connecticut’s win secured the Las Vegas Aces the 4th seed.

Playoff duels

Here are the postseason pairings and tee times for Sunday.

Liberty (1) vs. Dream (8) — 1:00 p.m. ET
Lynx (2) vs. Mercury (7) — 5:00 p.m. ET
Sun (3) vs. Fever (6) – 3 p.m. ET
Aces (4) vs. Storm (5) 10:00 p.m. ET

What is the WNBA playoff format?

Following the 2021 season, the WNBA changed its playoff format to eliminate knockout games and byes to the semifinals for the top two seeds. Under the new format, the top eight teams from the regular season, regardless of conference, qualify for the postseason, with all eight competing in a best-of-three series in the first round. The first two games of the series are played on the home court of the higher seed, with the lower seed then hosting a third game if necessary. Under the new series format, no lower seed has ever beaten the higher seed.

The winners of each first-round series advance to the semifinals, where the remaining four teams will compete in a best-of-five series. The semifinals begin on September 29.

The respective winners of these series will then advance to the WNBA Finals, which will also be a best-of-five series. The WNBA Finals begin on October 10, with a possible fifth game scheduled for October 20.

What story could be written in the postseason?

Here is some information about what is at stake in the playoffs:

• The Aces are looking to become the first franchise to win three consecutive championships since the Houston Comets, which won four straight titles from 1997 to 2000.
• The Liberty are seeking their first championship title in franchise history after losing in the WNBA Finals five times, including last season.
• The Sun enter the playoffs with the longest active streak dating back to 2017. Forward DeWanna Bonner has played in 80 postseason games and needs just three more appearances to set a new career record for postseason appearances, overtaking Rebekkah Brunson (81) and Lindsay Whalen (82).
• Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is already the WNBA’s top scorer in the postseason (1,455 points), but she can further improve her resume in what may be her final postseason.
• Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot will set a new record for most assists in a career in the postseason with three more assists. The record is currently held by Sue Bird (362).
• Fever guard Caitlin Clark will make her postseason debut after leading Indiana to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
• The Lynx and Storm enter the playoffs as the most active WNBA franchises with four championship titles each.

Required reading

(Photo: Erica Denhoff / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)