The WNBA playoffs will be defined by these three dark horse teams

The end of the WNBA season is just a week away, so it’s crunch time when it comes to the chase for playoff position. There are several races taking place, and they’ve featured some fascinating developments. The top of the standings have been fairly well defined until recently, with the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Suns holding down the top two spots.

But there are three different WNBA teams that can be classified as dark horse contenders, and the contrast between them couldn’t be greater. They all aren’t title contenders, but the Indiana Fever, the Las Vegas Aces and the Minnesota Lynx are all threats to at least pull a first-round upset, and given the right matchup and circumstances they could do significant damage beyond that.

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The Indiana Fever are the ultimate wild card in the WNBA playoffs

We’ll start with the team that probably isn’t a championship contender. The Fever are explosive offensively, and when their Big Three of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell is firing on all cylinders, they can beat anyone.

But Indiana has three factors going against it when it comes to going beyond a first-round upset: (1) they’re young and inexperienced (2) they’re not good defensively (3) they turn the ball over a lot for a potential contender. They’re too dangerous to be in the “wait ‘til next year” category, but a true title run would be a total surprise.

The Las Vegas Aces still have A’ja Wilson

The Aces are the “maybe they will, maybe they won’t” team in this rundown. On the “maybe they will” side, they’re the defending champs, and they still have A’ja Wilson, who’s virtually a lock to win MVP honors. Their backcourt plays scary good defense, which means they’ll be a tough out in any series, especially if Wilson can keep her game elevated during the playoffs.

So what’s the downside? Las Vegas is currently seven games behind New York, and they’re probably not going to catch the Sun or the Lynx, either. That’s a long way off the pace, which means they’ll likely have to be road warriors after that likely 4-5 series against the Seattle Storm. They’ve stumbled multiple times during the season, so they’ll be pitting their postseason toughness against their tendency to have letdown.

Wilson is the wild card in this particular chapter of the playoff story. She can definitely carry the Aces for a game or two, or even an entire series. But doing it for multiple series is a tough ask, especially since opponents will be designing their defenses to stop her and slow the Vegas offense in its tracks.

The Minnesota Lynx are the dark horse team no one wants to play

The Lynx are currently 27-9, they’ve won four straight, and they’re 9-1 in their last ten games. So why is Minnesota in this list as a dark horse?

Mostly because they were picked to finish ninth in the standings before the season, which makes them a wild card of a different sort. They’re a relatively new group together, but the good news is that they’re gelling at the right time, and they’ll likely go into the playoffs as the proverbial hot team.

There’s a lot to like about the parts and pieces here, too. Start with Napheesa Collier, who would be a strong contender for MVP in her own right if A’ja Wilson weren’t having such a strong year. Collier is scoring and anchoring a tough defense, and Courtney Williams, Natisha Hiedeman and Kayla McBride have all experienced deep playoff runs before. Add in coach Cheryl Reeves experience, her championship pedigree and ability to get the most out of this group, and they become that much more formidable.

This article was originally written by Bob McCullough