Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd (24) reacts after scoring a 3-point basket against the Chicago Sky during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Las Vegas. Loyd scored her 6,000th career point during the game. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
WNBA playoff matchups will be decided on final day of regular season
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA enters the final day of its regular season Thursday night with the eight playoff teams set, but three of the four first-round matchups are still to be determined.
Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd (24) reacts after scoring a 3-point basket against the Chicago Sky during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, in Las Vegas. Loyd scored her 6,000th career point during the game. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA enters the final day of its regular season Thursday night with the eight playoff teams set, but three of the four first-round matchups are still to be determined.
Minnesota, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, Golden State, Indiana and Seattle all reached the postseason. The only three seeds that are locked in ahead of Thursday night’s regular-season finale are Minnesota at No. 1, Phoenix at 4 and New York at 5.
Las Vegas, which has won 15 straight games, will get the second seed with a win over Los Angeles on Thursday night. A loss would put the Dream at No. 2. If the Sparks win it also would give the franchise an equal two-year record with Washington, meaning the two franchises would split their draft lottery odds. If neither team drew a top-two selection, then the Mystics would get the No. 3 pick because they had a worse record this season.
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Golden State made history as the first expansion team to make the postseason in its inaugural year. The Valkyries visit the Lynx to close out the season. A win would get them the sixth seed while they’d fall to the eighth seed with a loss.
The Indiana Fever would earn the sixth seed with a loss by the Valkyries and the No. 7 seed with a Golden State victory. Seattle would be seventh with a loss by Golden State and eighth with a victory.
All four of the playoff series begin Sunday with Game 2 of the best-of-three series shifting to the lower-seeded team’s homecourt on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
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