On Aug. 17, the New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces in a full-circle moment. It was the Liberty who took down Aces last year to win the Commissioner’s Cup, only to lose to the Aces in the WNBA Finals.
On Sept. 8, the Liberty swept the Aces in the regular-season series for the first time since 2016. The Aces were without A’ja Wilson who suffered an ankle tweak the game before against the Connecticut Sun, but that didn’t stop them from taking the game down to the wire.
It’s fitting, then, that it was against the Aces for the Liberty to clinch a playoff berth – becoming the first team to do so. Since then, Las Vegas, Connecticut, Minnesota, Seattle, Phoenix, and Indiana have also clinched playoff berths,
That leaves just one spot open for the postseason with three teams still fighting for a shot. The Dallas Wings (9-26) and Los Angeles Sparks (7-28) are both eliminated from contention.
No one wants to face any of the teams who have already clinched a playoff berth (and I don’t care what the issues have been – no one wants to face the Aces in the playoffs). However, there are two underrated teams who are primed to go on a Cinderella run starting Sept. 22.
Let’s look at those two teams, and why the higher seeds should be slightly nervous if they draw them in Round 1.
Indiana Fever
The Fever were a mess to start the season. Playing 11 games in 19 days will do that to you. Christie Sides’ job was being called for. Fans were down on Aliyah Boston (this made no sense at all). Kristy Wallace was a starter still. Paige Bueckers to Indiana jokes were FLYING off nonstop.
Fast-forward to September, and no team is more dangerous entering the playoffs.
The Fever are clicking on all cylinders, as they trail only the Aces (87.4) and Liberty (86.6) in points per game (85.5) since June 1.
Sides has figured out her rotations, relegating Wallace to the bench in favor of Lexie Hull, who has provided the perimeter defense and corner threes that make her so valuable to this team.
Lexie Hull from deep since the Olympic break…
3PM: 23
3PA: 33
3P%: 69.7%Best 3P% over a 10-game span in WNBA history (min. 25 3PA)https://t.co/UDml7GbvNY
— Across the Timeline (@WBBTimeline) September 8, 2024
What’s more, Caitlin Clark and Boston have found a true groove, with Clark’s court vision opening up lanes for her teammates and Boston taking steps forward in her second year.
But let’s talk about Kelsey Mitchell for a second, shall we?
Here’s what Mitchell and Clark have been doing since the All-Star break.
Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark have been CRUSHING it since the All-Star break
Best backcourt in the league ? 👀 pic.twitter.com/5ENGet8lNt
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 1, 2024
Mitchell is a free agent this offseason, and Indiana should core her.
But before we even get there, some team will have to scheme around stopping the guards, while accounting for Hull in the corner, Boston and NaLyssa Smith down low, as well as a healthy Temi Fagbenle off the bench.
Good luck.
Atlanta Dream
The Chicago Sky is one game ahead of the Atlanta Dream for the eighth and final playoff spot, and both teams couldn’t be on a more different trajectory right now.
The Sky have won two back-to-back games after losing five straight as leading scorer Chennedy Carter missed multiple games due to health and safety protocols. Their second-leading scorer, Marina Mabrey, was traded to the Sun, and Angel Reese is now out for the remainder of the season with a wrist injury.
Meanwhile, the Dream are getting healthy at the right time. Throughout the season, they’ve had to go without their star Rhyne Howard, Aerial Powers, and Jordin Canada. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus also missed substantial time with a left ankle injury, and will now miss the rest of the season after further evaluation.
After the Olympic break, Atlanta was majority healthy – at least for its key starters. Powers is still working her way back from a calf injury, but it’s PG Canada and 2024 Olympian Howard who have right the ship for the Dream.
Tanisha Wright deserves credit, too, for swapping Parker-Tyus out from the starting unit when she was healthy and inserting Naz Hillmon in, instead. Hillmon has the second-highest WS/40 (Wins Share Per 40 Minutes – a measure of total wins a player is responsible for taking into account offense and defense) mark (0.12) on the team.
Getting Canada healthy has also allowed the Dream to go away from Haley Jones as the primary facilitator, a role that she struggled in this season with a team-worst 81 offensive player rating. Jones has found other ways to impact off the bench through her defense and building her rebounding skills.
Howard is doing Howard things for the Dream, as the team has been able to work her and Tina Charles – who may be having the most underrated season of any player this year – as the primary inside-out options, along with Allisha Gray’s sharpshooting.
Howard has scored 30 points or more in her last three games shooting at least 50.0 percent or better overall. Charles recently rose to second-all time in WNBA scoring, and has logged five consecutive double doubles to keep the Dream in playoff sights.
Rhyne Howard’s last three games:
31 PTS | 11-24 FG | 6-15 3P
33 PTS | 12-26 FG | 6-17 3P
36 PTS | 13-28 FG | 4-13 3P— I talk hoops 🏀 (@trendyhoopstars) September 8, 2024
Atlanta has the extra incentive, too, for the playoff run, since the Washington Mystics own its first-round pick of this year’s draft.
If the paths stay the same, the Dream will inch out the Sky for the final playoff spot and a likely date with the Liberty, Sun, or Lynx.
