WNBA Playoff Picture: CT Sun Among Top Contenders As Season Nears Close

The Connecticut Sun are certainly in the hunt for the WNBA title.

The top eight of the league’s 12 teams clinch a spot in the postseason and earn the chance to win a WNBA championship. The Sun remain in good position for to contend for the crown after an impressive win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

At this point only one team has been ruled out of playoff contention, the last place (5-29) Indiana Fever. Six teams: The Chicago Sky, Las Vegas Aces, Sun, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings have already clinched the playoffs. The other five teams (Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks) are still in the running for the remaining two playoff spots.

The Sun currently sit in third place across the league. They are two games behind first place and have two games remaining on the season.

The playoffs, beginning on Aug. 17, will consist of three rounds in the following format: best-of-three series, a best-of-five series and another best-of-five series. This differs from the past 1-1-5-5 format the WNBA used to have for its playoffs.

The first round best-of-three series will feature games one and two being hosted by the higher seed and game three (if necessary) being hosted by the lower seed. No teams will receive a bye, so all eight teams will participate in at least a best-of-three series. No reseeding will take place from round-to-round.

The best-of-five series (both the semifinals and Finals) will take place in the same fashion. Games one, two and five (if necessary) will take place at the higher seed’s home court and games three and four (if necessary) will be hosted by the lower seed.

If the season ended after Tuesday’s games, here’s what the matchups would look like:

No. 1 Chicago Sky vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream (winner plays winner of No. 4 Seattle Storm vs No. 5 Washington Mystics series)

No. 2 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 7 Phoenix Mercury (winner plays winner of No. 3 Connecticut Sun vs No. 6 Dallas Wings series)

No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun vs. No. 6 Dallas Wings (winner plays winner of No. 2 Las Vegas Aces vs No. 7 Phoenix Mercury series)

No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 5 Washington Mystics (winner plays winner of No. 1 Chicago Sky vs No. 8 Atlanta Dream series)

If the Sun manage to slide into the No. 2 slot, as they are just one game behind the second-place Aces, they would face the Mercury in the first round.