WNBA playoff picture: Aces have a chance to clinch a spot tonight

Though the Las Vegas Aces’ second half of their season has not been the prettiest, the two-time world champions have a chance to clinch a spot in the 2024 WNBA playoffs tonight at home against the Atlanta Dream.

The eight teams with the highest winning percentage in the league regardless of conference affiliation qualify for the playoffs with the New York Liberty (1), Minnesota Lynx (2) and Connecticut Sun (3) already in postseason play.

The Seattle Storm sit in fourth place behind the Sun, the Aces round out the top five, the Phoenix Mercury are in sixth, Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever are slotted in seventh and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky are in eighth place.

Current WNBA Standings

• New York Liberty (26-6) -- Playoff spot clinched
• Minnesota Lynx (23-8) -- Playoff spot clinched
• Connecticut Sun (22-8) -- Playoff spot clinched
• Seattle Storm (19-11)
• Las Vegas Aces (18-12)
• Phoenix Mercury (16-16)
• Indiana Fever (15-16)
• Chicago Sky (11-19)
• Atlanta Dream (10-20)
• Washington Mystics (9-22)
• Dallas Wings (8-22)
• Los Angeles Sparks (7-24)

The Aces not only look to clinch a playoff birth against the Dream, but they are also working to get back into a rhythm as the team has gone 2-4 since the Olympic break.

Vegas is coming off of a close 93-90 loss on the road against the Dallas Wings on Tuesday and they are also 2-7 dating back to July 16th. During that time, the world champs rank last in the WNBA in offensive rebounding (16.7%) and second to last in defensive rebounding (67.7%).

Despite the Aces rough stint, two-time MVP A’ja Wilson continues to make her case to win the award for the third time as the star center leads the league in scoring (27.1 mpg) and blocks (2.67 bpg) while ranking second in boards (11.7 rpg) and third in steals (1.93 mpg).

Her supporting cast of characters including Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young are top 15 in the league in scoring averaging over 17 points per contest. However they are averaging 13.7 and 12.6 respectively through their last seven competitions.

As for Atlanta, they are 3-3 since the break dropping their last three matchups.

Las Vegas is 1-1 against Atlanta this season with their final matchup between the two in the regular season tipping off on Friday at 7 p.m. at Michelob ULTA Arena and will be broadcasted live on ION.