The Minnesota Lynx clinched the WNBA’s No. 1 seed Tuesday despite losing to Indiana, after the Golden State Valkyries fell to the Portland Fire. The No. 1 seed gets home court throughout the playoffs; Thursday’s games decide the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds.
All eight playoff teams are set. Current seeds and records: Lynx (32-11), Valkyries (31-12), Aces (30-13), Dream (30-14), Fever (28-15), Mystics (27-16), Wings (27-17) and Liberty (26-18). If the season ended today, the first-round matchups would be Lynx–Liberty, Valkyries–Wings, Aces–Mystics and Dream–Fever. The top four seeds get home-court advantage in round one.
Golden State gets the No. 2 seed with a win or an Aces loss; Las Vegas needs a win and a Valkyries loss. Indiana gets No. 5 with a win, or with a loss if Washington also loses; the Mystics need a win and a Fever loss. Thursday’s schedule (ET): Toronto–Connecticut, 7 p.m. (NBA TV); Chicago–Washington, 7:30 (League Pass); Indiana–Minnesota, 8 (USA Network); Golden State–Los Angeles, 10 (League Pass); Las Vegas–Phoenix, 10 (USA Network). The playoffs begin Sept. 27 with four games.
