WNBA Playoff Picture 2026, Updated Bracket Scenarios and Standings Before Final Games

The final day of the WNBA regular season will decide the playoff seeding of four of the eight playoff participants.

The Minnesota Lynx are locked into the No. 1 seed. They will face the New York Liberty, who were confirmed as the No. 8 seed after their loss to the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday. Atlanta landed the No. 4 seed with the victory.

The Dallas Wings secured the No. 7 seed with their Wednesday win over the Seattle Storm.

The Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 seeds will be determined during Thursday's five-game slate. Four of those contests will have an impact on the playoff standings.

A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces will try to pry the No. 2 seed away from the Golden State Valkyries, but they'll need some help to do so.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever need a win in Minnesota to remain in the No. 5 position ahead of the Washington Mystics.

The equation is simple for the Golden State Valkyries and Indiana Fever on Thursday.

Golden State needs to beat the Los Angeles Sparks to confirm its spot as the No. 2 seed in the postseason bracket.

A Golden State loss combined with a Las Vegas Aces win over the Phoenix Mercury slots the Aces into the No. 2 seed on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Indiana needs a second straight win over the Minnesota Lynx to lock into the No. 5 seed.

The Fever beat the Lynx, who have nothing to play for on Thursday, by 19 points on Tuesday.

The Washington Mystics must beat the Chicago Sky and have the Fever lose to the Lynx to jump into the No. 5 seed. The Mystics won the regular-season series with Indiana, so they would jump ahead on tiebreaker if they finish on the same record.

All four WNBA first-round series start on Sunday. The opening round is a best-of-three series, the semifinals are best-of-five and the WNBA Finals are best-of-seven.