Teams battle for playoff positioning in WNBA’s final week

NEW YORK – With less than a week left in the regular season of the WNBA, playoff seeding, a postseason berth and draft lottery chances are still undecided.

Buoyed by a 12-game winning streak, Connecticut has clinched the top seed throughout the playoffs and leads The Associated Press power poll. Las Vegas needs one more victory or loss by Minnesota to earn the No. 2 seed and the other double bye to the semifinals. The Lynx are third. with Phoenix and Seattle both in the mix for the third and fourth seeds.

With the playoffs beginning next week, Chicago has locked in the sixth seed and will host a first-round game against the No. 7 seed, which right now is Dallas.

At the other end of the spectrum, Indiana, New York and Atlanta are in the mix for the best odds at winning the draft lottery.

The Fever have the best chance at securing the top pick in the draft. Indiana has 12 wins over the past two seasons, one more than New York and two more than Atlanta. Indiana and Atlanta played Tuesday night, one of three games the Fever have left. Indiana would need to win two of them for the Liberty to have any chance to pass them.

“Definitely is something at the back of my head,” Liberty coach Walt Hopkins said of getting into the draft lottery again and potentially getting the No. 1 pick for a third consecutive season. “It is a silver lining if that were to happen, but we’re not talking about that eventuality at all. Right now we’re focused on the next game.”

The Liberty also have a shot at the final playoff spot, trailing Washington by one game. The two teams play Friday night in New York. Los Angeles is also still alive in the playoff chase, trailing the Mystics by a game also.