With the WNBA back after a two-plus-week break due to the FIBA World Cup, there are just a few games left in the regular season, with games concluding Sept. 24.
The eight-team playoff field is set, though there is plenty yet to be decided with seeding before postseason action can begin.
When it comes to the Minnesota Lynx, they looked to be a lock for the No. 1 seed just a handful of games ago, but that has since changed with three games remaining. A red-hot Golden State Valkyries squad is giving Minnesota a run
for its money as the top team, though the Lynx still control their destiny by needing two wins over the last three games of the season.
Regardless of whether or not the Lynx finish the regular season as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, it looks like it is coming down to one of three teams they would likely face in the opening round, with those teams still fighting for seeding.
Let’s take a look at each potential matchup and how Minnesota did against each squad during the regular season.
New York Liberty
Over the past few seasons, we’ve seen some entertaining — and at times, heated and controversial — battles between the Lynx and Liberty in the playoffs. This year, we could once again see these two square off against each other, this time earlier than we are accustomed to seeing these two teams meet.
Regardless, this potential matchup could be one of the most entertaining first-round matchups in the playoff field, given the history and the back-and-forth nature of the three-game regular season series we saw this summer.
New York owned a 2-1 series advantage over Minnesota during the regular season, with the Liberty taking the first game 99-86 in Brooklyn on July 3, the Lynx evening things with a 90-85 win in Minneapolis on July 11, and most recently, New York taking down Minnesota 93-81 out of the World Cup Break on Sept. 18 in Minneapolis. It is worth noting that two of those three games were without Napheesa Collier, who made her debut on July 22.
What we’ve seen so far this season has been similar to what we’ve seen over the past few years — both teams going shot-for-shot and back-and-forth until there is no more time and no more games left to be played. If they end up facing off again in the first round of the playoffs this season, it’s safe to assume it will be the exact same thing this go-around.
Washington Mystics
An intriguing potential matchup in the first round is between Minnesota and Washington, given the fact that the Mystics have given the Lynx a hard time this season and are a team that can wear you down.
Washington is a strong, physical team, something that Minnesota has struggled with in past seasons and has again to some extent this season. After the third and final matchup between the two teams in August, Lynx rookie point guard Olivia Miles spoke about the physicality of Washington and how much that weighs on you.
And that was after one game — over the course of a series, that can be exhausting.
However, during the regular season, the Lynx owned a 2-1 series advantage over the Mystics, with Washington claiming the first game 84-79 on June 21 in Minnesota, followed by back-to-back wins from the Lynx on June 24 and Aug. 21 in Washington, D.C.
Out of the three potential matchups listed here, facing Washington might be the toughest test of them all, strictly due to the physicality and wear-you-down nature of the Mystics. But Minnesota has shown the ability to overcome that in the regular season, so you never know.
Dallas Wings
A few weeks ago, when the eight-team playoff field was set — with seeding, of course, yet to be determined — if you had asked which team Minnesota would have preferred to face in the first round, Dallas probably would have been that team.
However, Dallas has gotten hot here in the final stretch of the regular season, which might result in the Wings moving out of the eighth seed and into a higher seed in the standings. And when a team is hitting its stride at the right time or is hot down the stretch, that can be a dangerous thing to face in the postseason.
For fans, a battle between Minnesota and Dallas would be an entertaining one, strictly due to the ties between the two teams. Notably, there are ties to Minnesota itself, in Hopkins native Paige Bueckers and two former Lynx players also hoping to beat their former team, with Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard standing on the other side.
Over the course of the regular season, the Lynx took care of business against the Wings, sweeping the season series 4-0 behind impressive, high-powered showings on both ends of the court in those contests. Minnesota took the first game 90-86 on May 14 in Texas, followed by a 100-76 win in Minneapolis on June 9, an 85-77 win on June 28 in Texas, and finally a 103-90 win on Aug. 9 in Minnesota (a night Kayla McBride hit a WNBA-record 10 threes with a career-high 43 points).
There are no easy matchups in the playoffs, but out of these three potential opponents, Minnesota still might prefer to face Dallas in the opening round, given the Lynx’s success against the Wings this season. But it will be worth keeping an eye on whether or not Dallas can stay hot down the stretch of the year and where both teams are entering the postseason.
Regardless of what happens and who the Lynx face in the opening round, playoff basketball is almost here. And though Minnesota has some things to shore up and figure out before the postseason can begin, we all know Cheryl Reeve and company will be ready to go once the ball goes up in the playoffs.
