ClutchPoints’ Week 14 WNBA power rankings

The final weeks of the 2026 WNBA season produced a useful snapshot of the current state of the league. The top seven playoff spots have officially been claimed, leaving one left for two teams to battle over as the campaign comes to a close.

This week’s rankings make it clear which sides seem the most ready to tackle the postseason, which ones are just barely hanging on to their playoff hopes, and which are already looking forward to next year.

WNBA STANDINGS UPDATE

The @minnesotalynx continue to hold the No. 1 spot as they come in hot on a six game win streak.
The @AtlantaDream are on a three game win streak, going 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Both the @nyliberty and @WashMystics clinched a playoff berth… pic.twitter.com/ymsidF0NDq

— WNBA (@WNBA) August 24, 2026

1. Minnesota Lynx

Minnesota’s recent results reinforce an already dominant season. At 31-7, the Lynx have built the W’s best record and currently hold the longest active win streak with six victories in a row. What has carried Minnesota this far and separates from the pack its consistency. The kind of late-season volatility that can make a championship favorite seem vulnerable has been nonexistent for this team.

The Lynx have combined winning with the ability to navigate the increasingly challenging schedule, as all of their recent wins have come against solidified playoff teams or hopefuls. Their steady position at the top of these rankings isn’t about one spectacular week – it’s about repeatedly producing the strongest overall level of basketball.

2. Atlanta Dream

Atlanta climbs this high because its recent performances have been convincing and impressive. The Dream have won three straight and seven of their last 10 games, one of the best recent marks in the W. They look to finally be over their recent slump and are showing more of their early-season dominance at the perfect time.

The Dream have entered the closing stretch with momentum rather than simply protecting an established position. Their consistency has also been rewarded with an official playoff berth, and at this point, Atlanta looks capable of making the postseason uncomfortable for a higher seed rather than simply participating.

3. Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas had an easier schedule this past week, beating the Toronto Tempo by 10 on Sunday behind 27 points from A’ja Wilson and the Connecticut Sun on Thursday by 23 behind Jackie Young’s 24 points. Before that was a chaotic 15-point loss to the surging Dream, though, which keeps the Aces from rising any higher in these rankings.

The Aces’ 26-13 record puts them among the league’s elite, and they’re still a team that’s dangerous even when not operating at peak efficiency. But they’ve struggled to beat the W’s other top teams lately, and that could be a troubling sign this close to the playoffs. The most encouraging aspect of the week was Wilson and Young’s ability to generate offense without needing a perfect game from everyone around them.

4. Golden State Valkyries

Golden State has firmly established itself as one of the season’s biggest success stories, but this week was probably the most it’s struggled throughout 2026. The Valkyries fell to the Lynx, which isn’t unexpected, but they also lost to the already eliminated Chicago Sky on Friday after blowing a major lead. It’s most likely just a misstep, but it’s also the worst time of year to make out-of-character mistakes.

, joining Minnesota and Las Vegas among the Western Conference teams already assured of postseason basketball.

The Valkyries’ recent 6-4 stretch is not quite as dominant as Minnesota’s, but they have also clinched a playoff berth, and their overall body of work is still exceptional. They’ve avoided the type of prolonged slump that could have erased the advantage it built earlier in the year, but with the postseason approaching, the Valkyries need to reestablish their position a legitimate contender.

5. Indiana Fever

The Fever secured their playoff placement over the weekend, overwhelming Chicago 113-90. Caitlin Clark put up 37 points and 10 assists while Kelsey Mitchell scored 30, and that kind of offensive explosion is why Indiana is a dangerous postseason opponent. The Fever’s recent form has not been flawless – falling to the New York Liberty and Dallas Wings during the week prevents them from moving any higher in the rankings. But their ability to overwhelm an opponent when the backcourt gets rolling makes them one of the W’s hardest teams to ignore.

6. New York Liberty

The Liberty’s recent output arguably makes them worthy of an even higher position, but they’ve had an easier slate of opponents lately, and the teams above them have stronger current momentum, stronger records, or both.

Still, this is a team that’s proving it’s one that no one should want to face. New York has enough wins to establish a playoff-caliber floor while possessing the experience and talent needed to stay competitive in a postseason series. Especially after a hard-fought win over the Fever, the Liberty look to be building more confidence.

7. Washington Mystics

Washington remains the season’s biggest surprise. The Mystics clinched their first playoff berth since 2023 after beating Portland 105-100 on Sunday, with Shakira Austin delivering a career-high 31 points as they bounced back from a 10-point loss to the league-best Lynx.

The recent surge makes Washington more dangerous than its seventh-place position in these rankings suggests. The Mystics have paired youth with increasingly reliable execution, and their defensive performance has helped sustain the impressive turnaround. A team that was not even expected to be a factor in this year’s playoff picture has transformed into one of the W’s most compelling late-season stories.

8. Dallas Wings

The Wings land in eighth because they just delivered one of the week’s clearest statements: A two-game win streak featuring Sunday’s 92-70 demolition of the Seattle Storm and a six-point victory over the Fever. Paige Bueckers and Dallas are also in an unusually favorable position in the playoff race, holding a 6.5-game advantage over Portland for the final postseason place with the two sides heading for a showdown on Tuesday. The Wings have both recent momentum and substantial breathing room, which is an optimistic place to be in before the playoffs start.

9. Chicago Sky

Chicago is firmly outside the playoff picture, and Sunday’s loss to Indiana highlighted the distance between the Sky and the league’s established contenders. Chicago was officially eliminated from postseason contention with the defeat, but before that matchup, the team had notched two impressive wins in a row over two title hopefuls in the Valkyries and Liberty.

Still, the Sky have reasons to view the remaining schedule differently. With postseason pressure gone, the focus shifts toward evaluating what can become the foundation of the next competitive roster. The optimism of its outlook keeps Chicago ahead of the teams at the bottom.

10. Los Angeles Sparks

The Sparks enter this ranking with a little more momentum than their 13-24 record implies. After losing six straight, their recent victory over the Sun gave Los Angeles another opportunity to build confidence.

The Sparks are no longer in the playoff conversation, but competitive performances still matter for team moral at this stage and rebuilding chances in the future. Their challenge is figuring out how to turn these flashes of quality into sustained execution – something that has eluded them across much of the season.

11. Portland Fire

Portland’s position is much more precarious than any other team’s. The Fire suffered two consecutive narrow losses to the Mystics and a skidding Tempo squad over the weekend, giving Dallas a commanding advantage in the race for the final playoff berth.

The Fire have not collapsed completely, though. They remain close enough to make the final games meaningful, but Portland’s inability to capitalize on opportunities versus easier foes this weekend was costly. The head-to-head matchup with the Wings on Tuesday will now be make-or-break for their campaign.

12. Phoenix Mercury

The Mercury are talented enough to threaten teams on a given night, but they lacked the consistency required to remain in the postseason race. Now they’re officially eliminated from contention and are set to lose DeWanna Bonner for next season, putting their future trajectory up in the air even more.

Phoenix did have to face harder opponents in the Dream and Fire this past week, but this ranking position is less about one difficult week and more about the cumulative effect of too many uneven stretches this season. The standings largely settled around them, meaning the team’s priority now becomes finishing with competitive purpose and identifying which pieces to keep moving forward.

13. Toronto Tempo

Toronto rises slightly after finally breaking its 12-game losing streak against the Fire on Friday. The Tempo bookended that victory with more losses to the Aces, Mystics, and Fever though, despite being competitive in some of those contests.

However, it’s been hard for Toronto to sustain enough offense against any opponent with Marina Mabrey, Brittney Sykes, and Aneesah Morrow all regularly out of the lineup, so the team’s only hope is to return fully healed and ready to go next year. The Tempo have already been outside the playoff race, but the encouraging takeaway is that stretches of competitive basketball suggest they possess a foundation worth developing.

14. Connecticut Sun

Connecticut has endured one of the league’s most difficult seasons, losing nine of their last 11 games and two in a row to the Aces and Sparks. The Sun snagged a rare win over the Sparks to start the week, but that hasn’t negated the visible offensive problems or impact of injury absences, which have further complicated the team’s ability to establish consistency.

15. Seattle Storm

Seattle closes out the rankings after adding another tally in the loss column by falling to the Wings on Sunday. The Storm were already struggling at 7-30 entering the game, but the defeat definitely doesn’t help the team’s outlook for the next WNBA season.

The Dallas game laid out the biggest problem: Seattle fell behind by 21 points by halftime and never seriously threatened to complete a comeback. The Storm’s third quarter performance showed a brief response, but Dallas answered decisively in the fourth and were never truly threatened. With a short week and the W’s worst record, Seattle has little reason to be ranked anywhere but last.

The most important development from this past week is the widening separation between the top contenders and everyone else. Minnesota, Las Vegas, and Golden State have proven themselves to be the strongest Western threats, while Atlanta, Indiana, New York, and Washington form a fascinating group of Eastern playoff teams.

At the other end, Dallas has put itself in excellent position to claim the final postseason berth as Portland’s chances of making the cut in its first-ever season wane. With the regular season approaching its end, the next few games should reveal whether the teams that have clinched can maintain their edge or whether one of the other teams can spoil their strong finish.

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