How the Liberty could clinch the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs

The WNBA playoffs are almost here, with just one gameday left in the regular season.

The Las Vegas Aces hold the No. 1 seed heading into the final game of the season . But the New York Liberty, on an eight-game win streak, are hot on their tails, sitting just half a game back of the top spot.

The Aces (33-6) beat the Phoenix Mercury on Friday, but because the Chicago Sky also beat the Minnesota Lynx, the door remains open for the Liberty to grab the top seed. Las Vegas hosts the Mercury in its final game of the season Sunday. New York (32-7) has just one game remaining, a home game against the Washington Mystics at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.

How the New York Liberty could clinch the No. 1 seed:

1. If the Liberty win their final game, the Aces lose one of their final two games and the Lynx lose their final two games.

If the Aces and the Liberty finish with the same record, the tiebreaker will be which team has the better record against teams with records of .500 or better. That’s where the Lynx (19-19) come into play. This season, Las Vegas is a perfect 4-0 against Minnesota, while New York is 2-1.

New York can edge Las Vegas for the No. 1 seed. Here’s how (shout-out to @jlacroix14 of ESPN Stats & Info):

Liberty clinch 1-seed if:
* Win + Aces lose out
* Win + Aces loss + Lynx lose out
* Aces lose out + Lynx lose out

***Since Lynx are .500, they now factor into tiebreakers

— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) September 8, 2023