With the Portland Fire’s 82-79 loss to the Toronto Tempo on Friday, the Indiana Fever became the fourth team to clinch a berth in the WNBA playoffs.
Indiana joins the Minnesota Lynx, Golden State Valkyries and defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces in assuring spots for the postseason. The Fever lost an opportunity to directly clinch a playoff bid with a 91-85 defeat versus the Dallas Wings on Thursday.
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Indiana has now made the playoffs for the third consecutive season, coinciding with Caitlin Clark joining the team as the WNBA Draft’s No. 1 overall pick in 2024, after a seven-year absence from the postseason.
Last season, the Fever defeated the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the Aces in a five-game semifinal series.
Logjam in WNBA playoff standings
At 24-13 going into Saturday’s matchup with the New York Liberty (22-15), the Fever currently hold the No. 4 seed in the WNBA standings, a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Dream. Following their 124-88 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, the Dream (23-13) play the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday.
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Indiana could finish as high as third in the standings, currently only a half-game behind the Aces (25-13) for third place. Second place could also be within reach if the Valkyries (25-11) fall hard in their final eight games. Yet the Fever could also finish as low as eighth for the league’s final playoff spot amid a race in which six teams are separated by 3.5 games.
The Washington Mystics missed a chance to move up in the standings by losing 94-84 to the Lynx. Olivia Miles returned from an ankle injury suffered in Wednesday’s win over Golden State to score 24 points with 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals.
