The second annual WNBA Rivals Week Presented by Ally returns with 20 games from Aug. 8-14, highlighting classic and emerging rivalries between teams and players across the league.

Check out a few must-see matchups below that will not only impact these rivalries, but could also have playoff implications as the race to the postseason continues to heat up.

Note: All stats and records are through games played on Aug. 5

Indiana Fever at Chicago Sky

Saturday, Aug. 8, 3 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount +

This rivalry heated up over the past two seasons when 2024 draftees Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese brought their college rivalry to the professional ranks. While Reese left Chicago in the offseason and now plays for Atlanta, these two Midwest squads — separated by less than 200 miles — have begun a new chapter in their head-to-head history.

Their first meeting of the season — a 114-106 overtime win for Indiana — produced a bit of history as the Fever’s Aliyah Boston (34 pts, 12 reb) and Clark (32 pts, 10 ast) became the first teammates in league history to post 30-point double-doubles in the same game. Chicago had a 30-point scorer of its own as rookie Sydney Taylor posted a then-career-high 30 in just 21 minutes off the bench.

The Fever (19-11) have won the last seven meetings with the Sky (11-19). Chicago’s last victory came on June 23, 2024, in Chicago — the site of this Rivals Week clash.

Seattle Storm at Portland Fire

Saturday, Aug. 8, 8:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV

Portland Fire at Seattle Storm

Friday, Aug. 14, 10 p.m. ET, ION/League Pass

We go from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest as the Portland Fire and Seattle Storm play a Rivals Week home-and-home set to close out their season series.

While the Storm and Fire each entered the WNBA as expansion teams in 2000, the Fire ceased operations in 2002, leaving Seattle as the region’s only team. The Storm went on to become one of the league’s most successful franchises, tying the Houston Comets and Minnesota Lynx with a record four WNBA titles.

Now, after 24 years, the Fire have returned to Portland as one of two expansion teams this season, renewing this regional rivalry with Seattle. The Fire won the first two matchups against the Storm this season by five points apiece — 94-89 on June 17 in Portland and 77-72 on July 4 in Seattle — extending their all-time series lead to 7-4.

Las Vegas Aces at New York Liberty

Sunday, Aug. 9, 12:30 p.m. ET, ABC

This is the final matchup of the 2026 regular season between two teams that have defined championship pedigree over the past five seasons and gone head-to-head in three marquee events since 2023.

• Winners of the last four WNBA Finals: Las Vegas in 2022, 2023 (over New York), and 2025; New York in 2024
• Winners of three of the last five WNBA Commissioner’s Cups: Las Vegas in 2022; New York in 2023 and 2026 (both over Las Vegas)

While the regular-season series is tied at 1-1 — with New York earning an 87-76 win on June 23 and Las Vegas winning the most recent matchup 104-99 on July 30 — this will be the fourth time they have faced off in under seven weeks.

On June 30, the Aces and Liberty met in Brooklyn for the championship game of the Commissioner’s Cup. Despite playing without reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, the Aces held a 71-69 lead early in the fourth quarter before New York went on a 15-2 run to seize control and held off Las Vegas the rest of the way to become the first team to win multiple Commissioner’s Cup championships.

This rivalry not only features two teams that have collected a ton of hardware in recent years, but it also features the only three active players to win league MVP since 2018:

Las Vegas’ Wilson (4x) and New York’s Breanna Stewart (2x) and Jonquel Jones. Wilson and Stewart are also both two-time Finals MVPs, while Stewart is the only player to win multiple Commissioner’s Cup MVPs. Meanwhile, Jones is the only player in WNBA history to win every MVP award: Regular Season (2021), Commissioner’s Cup (2023), Finals (2024) and All-Star (2026).

Golden State Valkyries at Los Angeles Sparks

Sunday, Aug. 9, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

On May 16, 2025, the Los Angeles Sparks spoiled the first game in Golden State Valkyries history with an 84-67 win at Chase Center in San Francisco. The Bay Area squad has not lost to its rivals from SoCal since, winning the last four meetings between the league’s two California squads.

Year 2 of this budding rivalry began on June 15 when the Valkyries defeated the Sparks 78-58 inside Ballhalla, with All-Star Gabby Williams leading the way with a game-high 16 points. The Valkyries can clinch the season series with a win on Sunday or when the teams meet again on the final day of the regular season, in Los Angeles on Sept. 24.

Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever

Friday, Aug. 14, 7:30 p.m. ET, ION/League Pass

If you like buckets mixed with your rivalries, then this is the matchup for you. 

There are currently seven players averaging at least 20 points per game this season, and three of them will be featured in this game: Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell (24.0 ppg, 2nd) and Caitlin Clark (21.5 ppg, 3rd), and Dallas’ Paige Bueckers (20.3 ppg, 7th).

If you like No. 1 picks mixed with your rivalries, this is also the matchup for you.

This game features each of the last four top overall picks in the WNBA Draft: Indiana’s Aliyah Boston (2023) and Clark (2024), and Dallas’ Bueckers (2025) and Azzi Fudd (2026).

This is the first meeting between these squads since their season opener on May 9. The stars showed out in that highly anticipated matchup, with six players scoring 20-plus points: Indiana’s Mitchell (30), Boston (23), and Clark (20), as well as Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale (22), Bueckers (20), and Odyssey Sims (20).

Dallas earned a 107-104 win, meaning a win in this Rivals Week matchup or in their final meeting on Aug. 20 would clinch the season series for the Wings. That head-to-head tiebreaker could be crucial, as both teams enter this week neck-and-neck in the middle of the playoff race with matching 19-11 records.