The Aporia · Final week of WNBA regular season has playoff picture still muddled

Final week of WNBA regular season has playoff picture still muddled

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Feinberg, D. (2026, September 21). Final week of WNBA regular season has playoff picture still muddled. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/basketball/final-week-of-wnba-regular-season-has-playoff-picture-still-muddled/article_9f22255e-de53-5492-8dcc-0b3dd8e5e5a0.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

The final week of the WNBA regular season is approaching with playoff seedings still uncertain. Despite eight teams securing their spots in the postseason weeks ago, none have clinched their seeding yet. Key matchups include Minnesota versus Indiana and New York against Atlanta, which will largely determine the playoff brackets. Additionally, the article highlights record-breaking performances by rookie Olivia Miles, who surpassed Caitlin Clark’s points tally for most by a rookie this season, and Breanna Stewart being named AP player of the week.

Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

With the WNBA entering its final week of regular season play, the playoff seedings remain uncertain. The eight teams qualified for the postseason weeks ago, but none have clinched their positions yet. Minnesota and Golden State are competing for the top overall seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, while Las Vegas is leading for the No. 3 seed. Teams from fourth-place Atlanta to eighth-place Dallas, including the Liberty and Mystics, have only two games separating them in the standings.

Two key series this week include a home-and-home set between Minnesota and Indiana on Tuesday and Thursday, as well as matches between New York and Atlanta. These matchups will significantly impact playoff seeding. "I think it’ll be good for both us and New York to get two games going into the playoffs, wherever it shakes out," said Atlanta coach Karl Smekso, emphasizing the importance of playing at a playoff intensity level in these final regular season games.

Written for “WNBA Playoff Picture Unclear” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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articles that frame the event the way this one does

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Who wrote this

Doug Feinberg

37 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

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Topics

Atlanta Dallas Indiana Minnesota NEW YORK

Subjects

Atlanta GPE · 5× Minnesota GPE · 4× NEW YORK GPE · 4× Dallas GPE · 3× Indiana GPE · 3× Golden State ORG · 2× Las Vegas GPE · 2× Liberty ORG · 2× WNBA ORG · 2× Washington ORG · 2×

Narrative

“I think it’ll be good for both us and New York to get two games going into the playoffs, wherever it shakes out, where you’re already playing a playoff intensity and kind of playoff stakes,” Atlanta coach Karl Smekso said Monday morning after shootaround.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21

🔮 The eight teams that will play in the postseason were decided a few weeks ago, but none of positions have been clinched yet.

2026-09-21 · Toronto Star

Final week of WNBA regular season has playoff picture still muddled · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

— With the WNBA entering the final week of the regular season, the playoff seedings are undecided. asserted

seedings → enter → season

The eight teams that will play in the postseason were decided a few weeks ago, but none of positions have been clinched yet. asserted

none → play → positions

Minnesota and Golden State are still vying for the top overall seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. asserted

Minnesota → vie → playoffs

Then it really gets tight with only two games separating fourth-place Atlanta from eighth-place Dallas. asserted

games → get → Dallas

The Wings, Liberty and Mystics all have the same record as of Monday. asserted

Wings → have → Monday

There are two key series this week that should have playoff intensity to them when Minnesota and Indiana play a home-and-home set on Tuesday and Thursday. asserted

Minnesota → be → Tuesday

New York and Atlanta will also play two times this week. asserted

York → play → ?

Those two series will go a long way in determining postseason matchups. asserted

series → go → matchups

Smekso → think → shootaround

Golden State remained the No. 1 team in the power poll this week. asserted

State → remain → poll

Atlanta, New York, Washington and Dallas followed the Lynx. asserted

Atlanta → follow → Lynx

Los Angeles and Phoenix followed. asserted

Angeles → follow → ?

Portland, Chicago, Toronto, Connecticut and Seattle rounded out the poll. asserted

Portland → round → poll

Immortalized in bronze Lisa Leslie was honored by the Los Angeles Sparks franchise with a bronze statue outside their arena. asserted

Leslie → immortalize → arena

She became the 16th person honored with a statue in Star Plaza in a ceremony that featured Magic Johnson, Candace Parker, Michael Cooper and others. asserted

that → become → Johnson

Leslie, who starred for the Sparks from 1997-2009, is the first Sparks player to be honored with a statue. asserted

who → star → statue

The 11-foot statue with a 4 1/2 foot base depicts Leslie’s signature dunk, the first in WNBA history. asserted

statue → depict → history

Olivia Miles passed Caitlin Clark’s record for most points by a rookie when she scored her 770th point in the Minnesota Lynx’s victory over Connecticut on Sunday. asserted

she → pass → Sunday

Miles came into the game tied with Clark and broke her record with a free throw early in the second quarter. asserted

Miles → come → quarter

Miles finished the game with 21 points and now has 790 on the season. asserted

Miles → finish → season

She averaged 25.5 points, nine rebounds and four assists to help the Liberty win their two games last week, including one at Minnesota. asserted

Liberty → average → Minnesota

Other players receiving votes included Paige Bueckers of Dallas, Kiki Iriafen of Washington and Angel Reese of Atlanta. asserted

players → receive → Atlanta