Sept. 20—The Atlanta Dream clinched the WNBA’s final playoff spot on Thursday night, locking up the league’s postseason berth.
Eighth-seeded Atlanta will take on top-seeded New York Liberty in a first-round series that begins Sunday in New York.
Three other games also begin on Sunday. The second-place Minnesota Lynx will face the seventh-place Phoenix Mercury, the third-place Connecticut Sun will face the sixth-place Indiana Fever, and the fourth-place Las Vegas Aces will face the fifth-place Seattle Storm.
The higher seed will host Games 1 and 2. If necessary, the lower seed will host the third game.
Two-time defending champion Las Vegas was expected to compete for third place on Thursday, but Connecticut beat the Chicago Sky 87-54 to take third place.
Las Vegas is expected to become the first team to win three consecutive championships since the Houston Comets (1997-2000) won four consecutive championships.
Atlanta beat the Liberty 78-67 to advance to the final. The Dream defeated the Washington Mystics, who beat the Indiana Fever 92-91 at home.
“This year is special. It’s definitely the toughest year we’ve ever had,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said afterward. “I’m so proud of my athletes for continuing to fight and never giving up because I think it would have been easy to give up after this season.”
Sunday’s game between Caitlin Clark’s Fever and the Suns will be broadcast by ABC. The other three games played that day will be broadcast on ESPN.
The second and third games of the Atlanta-New York and Seattle-Las Vegas series will be played on Tuesday and Thursday, depending on whether a third game is needed. The Indiana-Connecticut and Phoenix-Minnesota series will be played on Wednesday and Friday, depending on whether a third game is needed.
The best-of-five semi-finals will begin on September 29.
The WNBA Finals, a five-game series, begins Oct. 10. Game 5, if necessary, will be held on Oct. 20.
——Visual-level media
