The final week of the 2024 WNBA regular season is a race for seeding and, for three teams, a race to qualify. The top eight teams, regardless of conference, advance to the postseason and seven teams have secured a playoff spot. Chicago, Atlanta and Washington are battling for the final spot.

No one has secured a spot yet. Not even New York, the most consistent team of the season and the first 30-win team of the year, has secured first place overall, even though most teams have four games left on their schedule. The season ends on September 19 and the playoffs begin on September 22. Here’s what the playoff situation looks like, what’s at stake in the final week of the season and which teams have the edge.

Playoff picture

As of Thursday, September 12th.

1. New York (30-6)*

2. Minnesota (27-9, 3 GB)*

3. Connecticut (26-10, 4 GB)*

4. Las Vegas (23-13, 7 GB)*

5. Seattle (22-14, 8 GB)*

6. Indiana (19-18, 11.5 GB)*

7. Phoenix (17-19, 13)*

8. Chicago (13-23, 17 GB)

9. Atlanta (12-24, 18 GB)

10. Washington (12-24, 18 GB)
    *Playoff spot secured

Who will get the last playoff spot?

Washington took a big step toward eighth place with an 89-58 win at Chicago on Wednesday night. The Mystics drew level with Atlanta in the standings and moved both franchises within one game of the Sky. All have four games remaining.

Chicago began the night with a 1.5-game lead over Atlanta and two games over Washington, but continued its post-Olympic slide. The Sky are 2-8 in their last 10 games, better than only the lowly Sparks (1-9), and are without Angel Reese (wrist) and Diamond DeShields (ankle). Chicago signed Kaela Davis, a 6-2 forward who last played in 2022, to a hardship contract on Wednesday.

This was always going to be a rebuilding year for new head coach Teresa Weatherspoon, and the franchise has reiterated that with the signing of Marina Mabrey before the break. And an eighth or even ninth place finish would exceed preseason expectations, when some predicted the Sky would finish in the very last place.

Of the three contenders for 8th place, the Sky have the toughest final stretch. Three of the Sky’s final four games are on the road. Two of those are against top-four Minnesota and Connecticut, both of whom are looking for a win of the season. In between, the Sky hosts Phoenix (also looking for a win) and travels to Atlanta (2-1).

The Dream and Mystics will play each other twice (Friday in Atlanta, Sunday in Washington) to determine if either can overtake the Sky. The Dream and Mystics split their first two games, but both came within the first month.

The Dream are the most dangerous of the three. Rhyne Howard, who returned from injury just before the All-Star break, scored at least 30 points (on 46% shooting) in three straight games last week. And the Dream’s final four games are the easiest of the teams vying for a playoff spot, with a home finale against Chicago, though the Dream finish the season at league-leading New York. Should the Dream clinch the final spot, they would play the Liberty again in the first round.

At the end of the season, Washington hosts New York and Indiana.

1st place: New York must lose

New York, the first franchise to have back-to-back 30-win seasons, holds the first-team lead over Minnesota, which is three games back with four games left to play. Connecticut, which is in third place, could win and tie New York at the top of the standings if Liberty loses, but New York has the tiebreaker (3-1).

The Liberty host Minnesota on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, League Pass) in a game that could ultimately determine the No. 1 seed. They have split their two regular season games. New York beat Minnesota by 17 points in May and the Lynx beat the Liberty by nine points in July. Minnesota also won the Commissioner’s Cup against the Liberty.

New York has the easiest schedule of any top seed, as three of its final four games are against teams currently in the lottery. Minnesota must travel to Connecticut one final time immediately after its game against New York.

It would be the second time in league history that the Liberty finished with the best record in the league. The Liberty were also No. 1 in 2015, when they led the league in defense but finished 10th in offensive rating under head coach Bill Laimbeer. They lost to the Fever in the Eastern Conference finals.

No. 2 seed: A race to escape the fever

Minnesota and Connecticut are locked in a tough battle for second place to secure home-court advantage through the semifinals. That would also likely keep them from facing the red-hot Fever in the first round, which would be a welcome result at this rate. Indiana could secure sixth place as soon as Friday.

The Lynx lead the Sun by one game and conclude their three-game regular-season series on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET, League Pass). Connecticut won 83-82 (OT) in May and 78-73 in July. Napheesa Collier injured her foot in that July loss and missed the next five games before the All-Star/Olympic break. This will be the first game Marina Mabrey plays in a Sun uniform. She scored 26 points with six 3-pointers on Tuesday against LA as a substitute.

Neither team will have it particularly easy at the end of the season.

Minnesota’s trip to the East Coast will take place between Friday night’s home game against Chicago and the season finale against Los Angeles. The Sky have been hampered by injuries and Los Angeles has already secured the best odds of the first pick in the 2025 draft lottery.

Connecticut travels to Phoenix and Las Vegas before playing Minnesota and Chicago at home, looking to close the gap on the Lynx. The Sun beat Phoenix three times by an average of 20 points, but scored some of their closest wins of the season against Chicago.

Number 4 in the seeding list: Will Seattle or Las Vegas host the other team?

New York and Minnesota have secured a spot in the top four and Connecticut is all but certain. The decisive race for fourth place is between Las Vegas and Seattle. The winner will host the first two games of the best-of-three series between the two teams, as they are all but certain of fourth and fifth place.

Las Vegas has the edge over Seattle, but faces a tougher schedule down the stretch. The Aces play the Fever again in Indianapolis on Friday after a hard-fought win on Wednesday night. They host Connecticut, travel to Seattle and host Dallas in the season finale.

Seattle nearly lost ground in the race when it had to overcome a first-half deficit against the Sparks. They were the team’s first back-to-back wins since the Olympic break. The Storm are in a similar position to the 2023 Liberty, trying to build chemistry after signing two All-Stars in the offseason. The Storm play on the road against Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and in Phoenix.

When the season ended on Thursday morning

No. 8 Chicago at No. 1 New York
No. 5 Seattle at No. 4 Las Vegas
No. 7 Phoenix at No. 2 Minnesota
No. 6 Indiana at No. 3 Connecticut