There are only a handful of games left to be played before the WNBA’s midseason break for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which is taking place from September 4 to September 13. This means that the very few games left to play before that break are even more crucial to playoff seeding and an actual shot at a playoff berth, something that teams like the Portland Fire, Dallas Wings, and Washington Mystics are all too aware of.

Even if you’re in 9th or 10th place right now in the standings, that could quickly change with a win streak before the FIBA break. That pressure has made for some unbelievably fun basketball lately.

Valkyries Hit Another Winning Streak

The Valkyries have been flying a bit too under the radar for my liking this season. Their team defense, which is probably best described as “hitting teams with metal bats for all four quarters,” has not wavered much since the beginning of the season. They’re currently first in the league in defensive rating (101.1), and Veronica Burton has the highest defensive win shares of any player in the league with at least 30 games played (0.190). 

They finished up Week 12 of the season with another winning streak kept alive, hitting five straight victories. They’ve kept pace with the Minnesota Lynx and the similarly red-hot Las Vegas Aces to remain atop the standings, and to separate themselves from the growing mess that is the WNBA’s seeding from 4-8. 

Golden State has a league-high seven games before the FIBA break, which should be more than enough to continue solidifying their spot near the top of the standings. Most of those games come against teams below .500.

Minnesota, Las Vegas Clinch Playoff Berths

Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx guards A’ja Wilson #22 of the Las Vegas Aces

At the other end of the Valkyries’ spot on the standings, the Lynx and Aces both managed to become the first teams to clinch playoff berths. For Minnesota, it came as no surprise – they’ve been on a roll the entire season, and have only looked more dangerous since the return of Napheesa Collier to the starting lineup.

A convincing win over the Aces on Saturday further separated them from the rest of the pack, and continued to showcase what makes them so dangerous come playoff time – their depth. Six of the eight players head coach Cheryl Reeve played in that game scored double digits, whereas the Aces only had four players hit that note. 

As for Las Vegas, this season has been another strange one, although not as weird as their 2025 campaign that ended in another championship. You can almost feel when they’ve decided to either hit the gas hard or take their foot off the pedal. Ideally, you’d like to see them with a bit more of a lead foot in games like this, potential Finals previews. Only two efficient shooting games from A’ja Wilson and Nalyssa Smith won’t get that done, though. 

In good news for Las Vegas, they have the weakest remaining schedule of all contenders.

Johannès Looking Like the Liberty’s Best Remaining Spark Plug

The New York Liberty had a matchup against the struggling Connecticut Sun this past weekend, and the game was a lot closer than Liberty fans might’ve wanted it to be throughout the first half and towards the end of the contest. 

One player that did not seem to want to let things get out of hand, though, was Marine Johannès. The French guard finished with 17 points on 62.5 percent shooting from three-point range, and had a healthy diet of either one-legged threes or crafty drives to the basket. She also had a highlight-reel pass to Rebecca Allen in the 4th to continue to seal the victory for New York. 

The Liberty have struggled to find this sort of spark on offense lately, with injuries and almost one too many lineup changes making chemistry hard to come by. Johannès, though, is clearly using these remaining contests ahead of the FIBA World Cup as good practice for her time with the French national team. And, New York is thriving as a result.

Fever Taking Shape as True Contenders

Kelsey Mitchell #0 and Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever

All season, the Fever have been on the periphery of the conversation about contenders. Kelsey Mitchell has been on an absolute tear this year, while Aliyah Boston remains one of the WNBA’s best post players through August. And, they’ve had a mostly-healthy Caitlin Clark as their main floor general, although her weaknesses on defense and tendency to get too overzealous when complaining about foul calls have made her a risk for technical fouls all year long. 

Still, they’ve climbed up the standings, and last week they convincingly took down the Dallas Wings, New York Liberty, and Atlanta Dream to sweep their Rivals Week competition. They’re only a half game behind the Aces in the standings, and they have the tiebreaker over Las Vegas after going 2-1 against them this regular season. 

Clark averaged nearly 10 assists over these three key contests, while Mitchell had 25+ points in two out of the three. Clark picked up where Mitchell left off in their game against the Dream, scoring 26 and dishing out nine. 

They could be one of the scarier teams to face this postseason, as they’re a threat from the post as well as from long range thanks to Clark and Mitchell. However, it’ll be a matter of whether their depth can really match up with that of the Lynx, Aces, or Valkyries that will set them apart.

Fire Keeping Pace in Standings

Who knew that the Portland Fire, despite a sluggish start to their season, would actually be pushing for a postseason spot?

Well, if you’ve been paying attention to both the talent in this league and the way that expansion franchises over the last few seasons have been playing with a chip on their shoulders, it wouldn’t be all that surprising. 

Portland continues to not go down without a fight, most recently taking down the Phoenix Mercury on Diana Taurasi’s jersey retirement night, and the Seattle Storm as part of Rivals Week. They also only lost to the Lynx by four, although we won’t talk up any moral victories here – the Fire wouldn’t want that. 

They have the toughest hill to climb of all remaining bottom-seed playoff teams, as they’re still 13.5 games back headed into a new week of the eight-seed Wings. They have one more critical game against Dallas next week, which could give them the tiebreaker if both teams finish with the same record in a race for the 8-seed. 

They also have the 4th-strongest remaining schedule, which will either sharpen them or bury them before they have a chance to really make a postseason push in earnest. Bridget Carleton and Megan DiLeo are two of Portland’s most postseason-weathered players, and they’ve been leading the push this past week for the Fire – they need a lot more help from their younger supporting cast if they want to become just the second expansion franchise to make the postseason in their inaugural season.