The Dallas Wings were able to clinch the sixth WNBA playoff spot with their victory over the New York Liberty 86-77 on Monday.
“In that locker room, we knew that we had the opportunity to make the playoffs for the second year in a row, but we want to go deeper. We want to finish sixth, and once the playoff starts, it’s a new season. Anything can happen.” Wings coach Vickie Johnson said per ESPN.
The Wings securing the sixth seed leaves only two spots left in the WNBA playoffs, which begin next week.
Once again, the WNBA playoffs system has changed this year. It will consist of the top eight teams playing with no byes. Every team will begin to play in the first round with the standard bracket format, which has the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed vs. the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed vs. the No. 6 seed, and the No. 4 seed vs. the No. 5 seed. The bracket will not be re-seeded after the first round.
The current playoff clinched standings:
- Chicago Sky (25-8)
- Las Vegas Aces (23-10)
- Connecticut Sun (20-11)
- Seattle Storm (20-13)
- Washington Mystics (20-14)
- Dallas Wings (17-16)
The Five teams still in contention for the remaining two playoff spots are the Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Phoenix Mercury might have an uphill battle with Diana Taurasi’s untimely season-ending quad injury, which was announced Monday. The Mercury (14-19) still has a chance of clinching a playoff spot as they rank eighth right behind the Atlanta Dream (14-18).