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2026 WNBA Playoffs: X-Factor for Every Team

Grant Afseth September 24, 2026Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli Be First


The Portland Fire beat the Golden State Valkyries 90-82 in overtime Tuesday night, and the loss handed the Minnesota Lynx the top seed. A night later, the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 83-65 in Brooklyn to lock up the fourth seed, which also set the Dallas Wings at seventh and New York at eighth. The 2026 WNBA regular season ends on Thursday, Sept. 24.

Sophie Cunningham Indiana Fever
Photo by Jineen Williams/Ballislife

Thursday's finales decide the rest. The Valkyries and Las Vegas Aces are playing for the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, and the Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics are playing for Nos. 5 and 6. The winner of the first pair draws Dallas in the first round, and the winner of the second draws Atlanta. The playoffs open Sunday with four best-of-three series.

Here is one X-factor for each team, listed by seed or current standing.

Minnesota Lynx: Natasha Howard

Minnesota clinched the top seed and home court throughout the playoffs hours after a 96-77 loss to the Fever on Tuesday. The Lynx are 32-11 and have lost four of their last five, with the only win in that stretch coming against the Connecticut Sun. Their first-round opponent is the Liberty.

Olivia Miles was a late scratch Tuesday with a left calf injury and has been ruled out for Thursday's finale against Indiana. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said the team held her out because "we just simply can't take a chance." In her 40 games, Miles has averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists while shooting 49.2%.

Natasha Howard came back to Minnesota as a free agent this spring, nine years after coming off the bench for the Lynx's 2017 title team. With Napheesa Collier and Dorka Juhász both out to open the season, she started at center and became the Lynx's primary matchup against opposing bigs. In July, she started the All-Star Game, her first selection since 2022.

Howard is averaging 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds in 43 games and shooting a career-high 59.2% from the field. She takes 0.4 3-point attempts per game. In mid-August, she ranked second in the league at 11.8 points in the paint per game, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Her impact numbers are tied to Miles. Through late July, Minnesota was 11.0 points per 100 possessions better with Howard on the floor, and the two had a plus-18.6 net rating together, according to FanSided. The Lynx were in the negative when either one played without the other.

When her game is clicking, Howard is a matchup problem for most of the league, and Minnesota's defense depends on her as much as anyone on the roster.

Alanna Smith, who started beside Collier the last two seasons, signed with Dallas in the offseason. Collier returned in late July from surgery on both ankles. In 15 games, she is averaging 17.5 points and taking 3.3 3-point attempts per game.

"'Lan' liked to be on the perimeter more, and I was more in the post, and now it's like working two people who want to be in the post," Collier told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Minnesota closes the regular season Thursday at home against Indiana.

Golden State Valkyries: Janelle Salaün

Golden State scored the first 17 points Tuesday at Portland and lost 90-82 in overtime, ending a six-game winning streak and its chance at the top seed. The Valkyries made 8 of 31 3-point attempts. At 31-12, they clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round series with Dallas with a win Thursday at the Los Angeles Sparks or a Las Vegas loss.

Janelle Salaün is a 6-foot-2 forward who takes 6.1 3-point attempts per game, the most on the team, and makes 39.4% of them. She is averaging 12.9 points in 22.3 minutes off the bench, second on the team behind Gabby Williams' 14.4. Veronica Burton adds 12.1 points and 5.7 assists.

One of the hardest things in a playoff series is being unable to load up against the other team's top options, and a stretch big is one of the best ways to take that away. If Salaün picks a defense apart with her shooting, the attention she draws becomes hard to give while also accounting for Burton and Williams.

Golden State attempts a league-high 30.6 3-pointers per game. It also scores the fewest points in the paint in the league, 30.8 per game. Its defensive rating of 99.1 is the best in the league. No Golden State player averages 30 minutes, and eight average more than 6 points.

Salaün had 11 points Tuesday, her 27th double-figure game off the bench this season. The team said that is a WNBA single-season record for a reserve. She also holds the single-season records for 3-pointers and points by a reserve.

As a rookie in 2025, Salaün started and made the All-Rookie Team at 11.3 points per game.

"As long as I get on the court, there's no difference," Salaün told the Bay Area News Group in August.

The team said rookie Juste Jocytė sustained a left leg injury Sept. 19 against Seattle. Golden State has since signed center Aminata Gueye to a rest-of-season contract.

Las Vegas Aces: Jewell Loyd

Las Vegas clinched a top-three seed and first-round home court with an 89-79 win over the Sparks on Tuesday, its sixth straight victory. At 30-13, the Aces take the No. 2 seed and a series with Dallas if they win Thursday at Phoenix and Golden State loses. Otherwise they host the No. 6 seed.

The Aces lost NaLyssa Smith for the season to a non-contact left leg injury Aug. 23 against the Toronto Tempo. Smith had started all 38 games she played, averaging 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, and led the league at 63.8% from the field.

Jewell Loyd led the WNBA at 24.7 points per game in 2023, her ninth season in Seattle. She averaged 19.7 the next year. After she requested a trade, the Storm sent her to Las Vegas in a three-team deal that moved Kelsey Plum to the Sparks and the second overall pick in the 2025 draft to Seattle.

In her first season with the Aces, Loyd averaged 11.2 points in 28.3 minutes. Las Vegas moved her to the bench during the year, and she was part of the rotation that won the 2025 title, her third championship.

This season, Loyd is averaging 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 41 games, the lowest scoring average of her 12-year career. She is shooting 35.2% from the field and 32.7% from 3-point range.

She still plays nearly 26 minutes a night off the bench. If Loyd can score in that role, she can push the Aces on the kind of run that swings a playoff game, and Las Vegas becomes very hard to handle.

Loyd has not scored in double figures since Aug. 15, a stretch of seven games. Her season high is 21 points, at Dallas on June 15.

Against the Sparks on Tuesday, she made 3 of 6 3-point attempts in 20 minutes and finished with 9 points. Two of those 3-pointers came back to back in the third quarter, during a 12-2 run that pushed the lead to 65-47.

Las Vegas closes the regular season Thursday at Phoenix.

Atlanta Dream: DeWanna Bonner

Atlanta clinched the No. 4 seed and first-round home court Wednesday with an 83-65 win at New York, finishing the regular season 30-14. Allisha Gray scored 24 points and Naz Hillmon added 16. The Dream will host Indiana or Washington.

Angel Reese took a hit to the face while drawing an offensive foul from Sabrina Ionescu just before halftime Wednesday and did not return for the second half.

Atlanta signed DeWanna Bonner to a rest-of-season contract on Aug. 27, three days after the Phoenix Mercury agreed to a buyout. When she signed, Atlanta's reserves were averaging 17.2 points per game, second-fewest in the league, according to CBS Sports. Brionna Jones had not played since leaving an Aug. 13 game against the Connecticut Sun with a left leg injury.

Bonner ranks third in WNBA history in career points and fifth in career rebounds. She won titles with Phoenix in 2009 and 2014. She is also the only three-time Sixth Player of the Year in league history. In 37 games with the Mercury this season, 26 of them starts, she averaged 10.6 points and 6.1 rebounds.

Across 17 seasons, Bonner has played for Phoenix twice, along with Connecticut, Indiana, and now Atlanta.

"At this stage of my career, I don't know what the future holds, but I'm grateful to the Mercury for giving me the opportunity to play in what could be one of my final postseason opportunities," Bonner said in a statement.

Bonner debuted for Atlanta on Aug. 30 against Minnesota. In five games with the Dream, she is averaging 8.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 20.8 minutes. She is shooting 50.0% from the field and has made 7 of 15 3-point attempts.

In Monday's 95-84 win at New York, Bonner scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range. With 3.1 seconds left in the first half, she grabbed an offensive rebound and scored through a foul, and the three-point play put Atlanta ahead 41-38 at the break. She added 9 points and 8 rebounds in Wednesday's clincher.

Bonner has shown she can score in timely moments. A veteran who is poised in those spots can take pressure off the whole group, and for Atlanta, that could be the difference.

The Dream have lost in the first round in each of the last three seasons, to Dallas in 2023, New York in 2024, and Indiana in 2025. The franchise has never won a championship.

Indiana Fever: Sophie Cunningham

Indiana led Minnesota 57-34 at halftime Tuesday and won 96-77, and the Lynx's reserves played the final 25 minutes. Caitlin Clark finished with 27 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds in Indiana's last home game of the regular season. Kelsey Mitchell reached 20 points on a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes left. That extended her league record to 27 straight 20-point games. She also added to her WNBA single-season scoring record.

Indiana, 28-15, plays at Minnesota on Thursday. Winning that game locks up fifth place and a first-round trip to Atlanta. The Fever can also get there with a loss if Washington loses to Chicago. If neither happens, they drop to sixth and start the playoffs at Golden State or Las Vegas.

Mitchell, Clark, and Aliyah Boston average a combined 64.2 of Indiana's league-best 96.7 points per game. No one else on the roster averages more than 8.0.

That 8.0 belongs to Sophie Cunningham. She is one of four Fever players averaging at least 20 minutes, at 22.4 per game, and she has started 3 of her 42 games. She takes 3.7 3-point attempts per game and makes 42.9% of them. Monique Billings is next in scoring at 6.5.

Indiana leans so heavily on its top three that any other player reaching double figures makes a clear difference. Cunningham comes the closest on a nightly basis.

On June 16 against Toronto, she scored 24 points off the bench and made 6 of 7 3-point attempts, tying her career high for 3-pointers in a game.

On Sunday, Cunningham did not score in the Fever's home loss to Washington. She and Lexie Hull combined for 20 minutes.

Cunningham missed Indiana's 2025 playoff run after a season-ending knee injury Aug. 19, 2025. The Fever beat Atlanta in the first round and lost to Las Vegas in five games in the semifinals.

Washington Mystics: Georgia Amoore

Washington won its franchise-record 27th game Tuesday, 79-69 over the Connecticut Sun, topping the 26 wins of the 2019 title team. Shakira Austin had 25 points and 13 rebounds for her 20th double-double. She and Kiki Iriafen, who has 22, are the first teammates in WNBA history with at least 20 each in a season, according to The Associated Press.

The Mystics win inside and on defense. They lead the league with 24.7 free-throw attempts and 37.6 rebounds per game. Only Atlanta scores more points in the paint than Washington's 42.9 per game. The Mystics' defensive rating of 103.1 is second only to Golden State's.

Washington also attempts the fewest 3-pointers in the league at 19.5 per game. It ranks 12th at 31.9% from deep.

Georgia Amoore leads the team in 3-point attempts at 4.3 per game and in makes at 1.5 per game. She is shooting 34.8% from deep. Through the games CBS Sports tracked last week, Washington was 13-2 when she made at least half her 3-point attempts and 12-14 when she did not.

Washington took Amoore sixth overall in 2025. She tore the ACL in her right knee during training camp that April, sat out the whole season, and came back this year to win the starting point guard job.

Her career high came Aug. 27 at Phoenix. She scored 25 points, 16 in the fourth quarter, and shot 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Washington trailed 63-53 with 8:17 left before a 17-2 run, and Amoore's 3-pointers on consecutive possessions put the Mystics up 78-73 with 1:18 to go.

"We're a different team," Mystics coach Sydney Johnson said. "She's been shooting I think roughly 40% from three over the last eight, nine, ten games, and that's just been a massive difference. And it's something that we never doubted."

In Sunday's 93-77 win at Indiana, Amoore scored 11 points and made three 3-pointers.

Washington hosts Chicago on Thursday. A win there plus an Indiana loss would move the Mystics, 27-16, up to fifth and send them to Atlanta for the first round. Any other result puts them on the road against Golden State or Las Vegas.

Dallas Wings: Awak Kuier

The Wings beat Seattle 103-91 on Wednesday night in the regular-season finale for both teams. Dallas finished 27-17 and is the seventh seed. The Wings improved by 17 wins from last season's 10-34 record. Their first-round opponent is Golden State or Las Vegas.

Paige Bueckers scored 25 points. Jessica Shepard had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists for her league-leading sixth triple-double. Awak Kuier made four 3-pointers.

Dallas lost Azzi Fudd, the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, for the season on Aug. 19. The Wings had lost seven of nine games coming out of the All-Star break.

Wings coach José Fernández used a three-guard lineup for most of the season. After the injuries, he moved the 6-foot-6 Kuier into the starting five with Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Alanna Smith, and Shepard.

All five starters scored in double figures in the Aug. 25 win over Portland that clinched the franchise's first playoff berth since 2023. Kuier had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

In 41 games, Kuier is averaging 6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 18.6 minutes. She is shooting 39.0% from 3-point range on 2.0 attempts per game.

Dallas has also been without Smith recently. In the first season of a max contract, Smith has played 32 of the Wings' 44 games and is averaging 6.0 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.9 minutes.

Dallas allows 39.8 points in the paint per game, 10th in the league.

Kuier makes a big difference when her offensive game is clicking. She can make 3-pointers, and her length and athleticism make her a challenge to account for as a finisher and a rim protector. If opponents put Shepard in a lot of actions, Dallas needs Kuier's weak-side defense to cover for it as much as possible.

Kuier was the second overall pick in 2021.

New York Liberty: Leonie Fiebich

New York finished 26-18 and opens the playoffs at Minnesota as the No. 8 seed. The Liberty lost their last two games to Atlanta, 95-84 on Monday and 83-65 on Wednesday.

Jonquel Jones had 10 points and 14 rebounds Wednesday before leaving in the third quarter with a left ankle injury. She appeared to step on a fan's foot after missing a 3-pointer. Jones had tweaked the same ankle Aug. 18 against Chicago.

Leonie Fiebich missed seven weeks with a left foot injury before returning Aug. 22 against Indiana. She had 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in 34 minutes of a 109-102 win. With the game tied at 100, she scored through a foul with 57.5 seconds left, then grabbed the rebound when Clark missed a running layup on the other end.

In 21 games this season, Fiebich is averaging 8.8 points in 28.7 minutes and shooting 41.2% from 3-point range on 4.0 attempts per game. She has scored in double figures eight times and 3 points or fewer six times.

Over her last four games, she scored 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. On Monday against Atlanta, she played 32 minutes and finished with 1 point and 6 assists.

Fiebich's production rises and falls with her 3-point shot, but she plays heavy minutes either way. She can have a quiet night where it is hard to remember she played, or she can frustrate an opponent with timely 3-pointers that swing a playoff game.

Fiebich started 37 games for New York in 2025 and joined the team late this season because of a commitment with Valencia in Spain. Breanna Stewart led the United States to the World Cup gold medal and was named tournament MVP. Liberty coach Chris DeMarco is in his first season.

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