WNBA Playoff Photo: Sun, Fever on Collision Course in First Round? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Connecticut Sun could play a pivotal role in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
After their 86-66 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night, the Sun sit third in the WNBA standings at 26-10 with four games remaining in the regular season. If that ranking holds, they’ll earn a first-round matchup with the No. 6 seed — which just happens to be Caitlin Clark and the red-hot Indiana Fever.
Below are the WNBA standings from Wednesday, September 11:
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The Fever are all but assured of sixth place, so the only variable is whether the Sun can overtake the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx and advance to the matchup between Nos. 2 and 7.
While the Lynx have won 11 of their last 12 games, they still face top-seeded New York Liberty and a head-to-head matchup with Connecticut on Sept. 17. The Sun are the winners of the season-long tiebreaker against Minnesota, so a win in that game would move them into second place.
Below is the remaining schedule for Connecticut:
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Friday September 13: at Phoenix Mercury, 10:00 p.m. ET (ION)
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Sunday September 15: at Las Vegas Aces, 6:00 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)
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Tuesday September 17: vs. Minnesota Lynx, 7:00 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)
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Thursday September 19: vs. Chicago Sky, 7:00 PM ET (NBC Sports Boston)
If the Sun stay in third place and the Fever win, this could be the most exciting first round of the WNBA.
Clark is definitely there; after a slow start to her WNBA career, the rookie phenom has emerged as one of the league’s best players, winning three consecutive WNBA Player of the Week titles and leading the Fever to a 16-5 record in their last 21 games.
But Clark would face a stiff challenge in the Sun, who have the league’s best scoring defense and an elite on-ball defender in DiJonai Carrington. Clark has committed 25 turnovers in four matchups against Connecticut this season, with the Sun winning three of those four games.
Indiana stunned Connecticut in the teams’ most recent meeting, and Clark is playing the best basketball of her young career. So if we get Sun vs. Fever when the playoffs begin on Sept. 22, grab your popcorn for what should be a highly entertaining series.
