The final day of the 2025 WNBA regular season mimicked a game of musical chairs.
Eight teams had punched their tickets to the playoffs coming into Thursday, but only three teams had locked in their playoff seeding entering Thursday’s slate — meaning a lot was at stake.
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The Golden State Valkyries controlled their own destiny, needing a win over the No. 1 overall seed Minnesota Lynx to lock in the No. 7 seed. The Valkyries weren’t up to the challenge, suffering a 72-53 loss at Target Center to end the season on a three-game skid. With the loss, the Valkyries drop to the No. 8 seed and, to add insult to injury, set up a first-round matchup against the Lynx, who they did beat in the regular season (0-4).
The Las Vegas Aces also hold their future in their hands. With a win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, which would mark their 16th consecutive win of the season, the Aces will move up to the No. 2 seed to face the No. 7 Seattle Storm in the first-round.
If the Aces are defeated by the Sparks, then they will be the No. 3 seed and face the No. 6 Indiana Fever to open the postseason. The Aces are 1-2 against the Fever and 2-2 against the Storm.
Here’s how the standings shake out after those key matchups:
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WNBA first-round matchups, potential bracket
Locked-in matchups are in bold
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No. 2 Atlanta Dream vs. 7 Seattle Storm
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No. 3 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever
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No. 4 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 5 New York Liberty
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA playoff seeding: Valkyries fall in standings. Can Aces move up?
