The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury are keeping up with the Joneses, rattling off two straight wins against the No. 11 Chicago Sky and No. 13 Connecticut Sun to offset a series of midseason losses.
Phoenix's course-correction has revolved around a surging Alyssa Thomas, with veteran forward recording back-to-back triple-doubles this week.
Notably, this is the third time in her career that Thomas has hit two straight triple-doubles — a feat no other WNBA player has accomplished even once.
"AT's just legendary," Phoenix's Satou Sabally said of her star teammate. "You really have to be ready, and be in the game all the time with her. It keeps your brain on. She will make the right play."
The Mercury will have their work cut out for them on Thursday night, as they prepare to face a stepped-up opponent with revenge on the mind — and a directive to remain atop the WNBA standings:
- No. 3 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 11 Chicago Sky, 8 PM ET (Prime): The Sky snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 78-64 win over No. 10 Washington on Tuesday, but they'll have their hands full against a deep Atlanta side as injured Chicago starter Angel Reese watches from the sideline.
- No. 13 Connecticut Sun vs. No. 9 Los Angeles Sparks, 10 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Sparks host the Sun with a big opportunity ahead, as Wednesday's Golden State loss to Las Vegas opens the door for LA to climb the table — should they continue their winning ways.
- No. 5 Indiana Fever vs. No. 4 Phoenix Mercury, 10 PM ET (Prime): The Fever bested the Mercury just last week, but Phoenix will aim to flip the script as Indiana once again hits the court without injured star Caitlin Clark.
The No. 6 Seattle Storm continue to lose ground, sliding down the WNBA standings after falling to No. 1 Minnesota 91-87 on Tuesday night — even as injured Lynx star Napheesa Collier watched from the sidelines.
Sitting as high as No. 4 this season, the Storm are now on a three-game losing streak, despite a string of very narrow score lines.
"We know those deposits are going to pay dividends coming up, but yeah, I think this group needs to feel a win," Seattle Storm head coach Noelle Quinn said after Sunday's 78-74 loss to the No. 5 Indiana Fever.
While Seattle is skidding, another West Coast team is on the rise, as the No. 9 LA Sparks recorded their seventh win in eight games on Tuesday, snapping Indiana's five-game winning streak with a 100-91 LA victory.
The win lifted the Sparks over the No. 10 Washington Mystics in the standings.
Forward Rickea Jackson and guard Kelsey Plum combined for 50 points to book the win, while newly returned forward Cameron Brink tied her career-high with five registered blocks on the night.
Ultimately, while some teams are struggling, others are surging toward the postseason, leaving the lottery-likely to decide whether to throw their weight behind a playoff push or shift their focus to next year.
The No. 1 Minnesota Lynx hit a snag this week, as league-leading scorer and star forward Napheesa Collier will miss at least two weeks of play after picking up an ankle injury in Saturday's 111-58 blowout win over the No. 7 Las Vegas Aces.
While an MRI confirmed there was no major injury, per ESPN, Collier's sprain will need to be "re-evaluated in the coming weeks."
"Obviously, you hate to see anybody go down, but especially your MVP," Lynx guard Kayla McBride said. "We just wish the best for her. We just want her to be healthy."
Minnesota will aim to continue their run of form without their franchise player as part of a Tuesday lineup with serious WNBA standings implications:
- No. 9 Washington Mystics vs. No. 12 Chicago Sky, 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Locked in a multi-team battle for postseason contention, the Mystics have a chance to make headway against an Angel Reese-less Sky desperate to break out.
- No. 5 Indiana Fever vs. No. 10 Los Angeles Sparks, 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The Fever are rolling despite the lack of return timeline for injured star Caitlin Clark, but a Sparks side with seven wins in their last 10 games could upend Indiana.
- No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 6 Seattle Storm, 10 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): With Collier sidelined due to injury, the Lynx will welcome key addition DiJonai Carrington to the fold as a hungry Seattle looks to pounce following two straight losses.
With more than half the 2025 season in the books, it's prime time for WNBA injuries, putting shorthanded squads in the spotlight as they push toward the playoffs.
The No. 9 Golden State Valkyries emerged as the WNBA's big winners on Tuesday night, with the 2025 expansion side shaking off a tough Sunday loss to the last-place Connecticut Sun with a 77-75 win over the No. 5 Atlanta Dream.
Golden State forward Cecilia Zandalasini scored a team-leading 18 points off the bench — including the game-winner — as Golden State built up a 30-point third quarter to narrowly hang onto the lead.
"We were talking about resilience, so it felt really good, especially on the road," starting guard Tiffany Hayes said after the win.
While Golden State secured momentum with the upset win, Tuesday's result wasn't quite enough to catapult the Valkyries over the postseason cutoff line.
Both the No. 7 Las Vegas Aces and the No. 8 Washington Mystics held fast to their playoff positions with Tuesday victories over No. 10 LA and No. 12 Chicago, respectively — denying both the Sparks and the Sky any headway in pushing out of their current lottery slots.
LA did see some upside in forward Cam Brink's return from injury, with the 2024 No. 2 draft pick contributing five points and three rebounds in her limited 14-minute performance.
With such parity, any WNBA team — including Golden State — can make a run up the 2025 table, so long as the squads at the top cede any ground.
Second-year LA Sparks forward Cameron Brink is gearing up to make her long-awaited return on Tuesday night, stepping back on the WNBA court after missing more than a year of action due to a June 2024 ACL tear.
Brink's return couldn't come at a better time for LA, as the Sparks continue to take serious aim at a postseason run after rattling off five wins in a row.
The 2024 No. 2 overall draftee will likely be on a minutes restriction as she works her way back into full-game fitness, with the Sparks easing her in during their Tuesday matchup against Las Vegas.
"It means the world," Brink told the Long Beach Press Telegram about her WNBA return earlier this week. "I'm just very excited, very humbled by this experience. It's no easy thing to come back from."
Brink's comeback will close out a trio of WNBA games on Tuesday:
- No. 9 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream, 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): After a hot start, the Valkyries slid into a free-fall, leaving Golden State hoping to improve on their 2-6 July record against a gelling Dream side.
- No. 12 Chicago Sky vs. No. 8 Washington Mystics, 7:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The young Mystics are currently clinging onto the final playoff spot, with a chance to push ahead against the injury-ridden Sky.
- No. 7 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 10 Los Angeles Sparks, 10 PM ET (NBA TV): The Sparks are the shiniest team in the WNBA right now, but they'll have their work cut out against an Aces team desperate to bust out of the mid-table doldrums.
The top WNBA titans showed some weakness this weekend, as both the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and No. 2 New York Liberty suffered unexpected upset losses at home.
First on Saturday, the No. 10 LA Sparks staged a 101-99 upset win over reigning WNBA champions New York, notching their fifth straight victory thanks to a dramatic buzzer-beater from guard Rickea Jackson.
Liberty standout Sabrina Ionescu led the game with 30 points, stepping up in the loss after star Breanna Stewart exited with a leg injury less than four minutes into the game.
Similarly, despite perennial MVP candidate Napheesa Collier putting Minnesota on her back with a 32-point performance on Sunday, the league-leading Lynx couldn't contain the No. 4 Atlanta Dream, falling 90-86 in their first home loss of the season.
The win helped the Dream shoot up the WNBA standings, overtaking fourth place from the Seattle Storm, whose 69-58 Saturday loss to the No. 8 Washington Mystics sent them stumbling into the No. 5 spot.
The No. 7 Las Vegas Aces have also been pushing, leapfrogging the Mystics with a 106-80 win over the No. 12 Dallas Wings on Sunday.
"One of the toughest things is going through hard things and remaining optimistic and positive," Aces head coach Becky Hammon said of her team's battle-ready mindset. "My main focus was just to keep everybody upbeat."
While multiple squads have consistently impressed this season, no single team has remained unanswered above the rest — a nod to the league's growing depth and subsequent parity.
As injured guard Caitlin Clark looked on from the bench, the Indiana Fever refused to quit, silencing Las Vegas 80-70 on Thursday night to overtake the Aces at No. 6 in the WNBA standings.
Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell led the team with 21 points, helping the Fever secure back-to-back wins over the now-No. 7 Aces for the first time since the franchise landed in Las Vegas in 2018.
"It started out with our defense," Indiana forward Natasha Howard said after the game. "We don't rely on our offense a lot…. When our defense is going, our offense is going."
The rest of Thursday's slate saw standout individual performances give way to blowout victories, with the No. 4 Seattle Storm and No. 10 LA Sparks both earning results.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum tied LA-turned-Seattle star Nneka Ogwumike for the most 30-point games in franchise history during LA's 101-86 Thursday win over the last-place Connecticut Sun, hitting the milestone in just 24 matchups.
Elsewhere, 19-year-old Seattle rookie Dominique Malonga also made waves, becoming the youngest-ever WNBA player to record a double-double with her 14-point, 10-rebound showing in the Storm's 95-57 drubbing of the No. 11 Chicago Sky.
All in all, as some teams heat up, others are out in the cold as the race to the 2025 WNBA postseason grows fiercer by the day.
As the fight for survival takes over the 2025 WNBA standings, the No. 10 LA Sparks are eyeing a spot above the postseason cutoff line — but the path to the Top 8 is anything but clear-cut.
With 2024 No. 2 draft pick Cameron Brink nearing a return from last year's ACL tear, the Sparks enter Thursday's clash with the long-suffering No. 13 Connecticut Sun on a three-game winning streak, giving the young squad a distinct edge.
However, LA's 9-14 record exposes their inconsistencies, having dropped two games to the No. 11 Chicago Sky in late June before turning things around ahead of the All-Star break.
The Sparks have a long way to go before playoff contention, but Thursday's lopsided matchup presents an opportunity to keep building:
- No. 10 LA Sparks vs. No. 13 Connecticut Sun, 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): LA tries to make it four in a row while the Sun hunt their fourth win of the season.
- No. 6 Las Vegas Aces vs. No. 7 Indiana Fever, 7 PM ET (Prime): An injured Caitlin Clark will once again ride the bench for this tight showdown, with the Fever able to retake sixth place should they snap the Aces' three-game winning streak.
- No. 4 Seattle Storm vs. No. 11 Chicago Sky, 8:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Seattle attempts to bounce back from Tuesday's upset loss to the No. 12 Dallas Wings, while an up-and-down Chicago looks to stir up momentum for a second-half push.
Only eight teams will earn spots in the 2025 WNBA postseason and, while there's plenty of games left to play, the time to make moves is now.
The WNBA is back in the saddle on Tuesday, as the league tips off the second half of the 2025 regular season with a stacked five-game slate while the dust settles on All-Star Weekend.
The No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and No. 2 New York Liberty will both take the court, though even tighter competition will spotlight teams crowding the middle of the WNBA standings.
After a few days of fun in Indianapolis, Tuesday's top matchups will test just how well players can return their focus back to the postseason push:
- No. 10 LA Sparks vs. No. 7 Washington Mystics, 7:30 PM ET (ESPN3): In what could be one of the closest games of the evening, two young teams will jockey for positioning as serious playoff contenders — but the Mystics have additionally motivation as they look to avenge last week's 99-80 loss to LA.
- No. 6 Indiana Fever vs. No. 2 New York Liberty, 8 PM ET (ESPN): With injured superstar Caitlin Clark stuck on the sideline, the Fever will take on a surging New York side armed with a revamped roster.
- No. 5 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, 10 PM ET (ESPN): Here come the Aces, as Las Vegas hunts their third straight win against an Atlanta team struggling to hold off fellow top-ranked squads.
The clock is ticking for WNBA teams entering the dog days of summer, when tough clashes will separate the 2025 contenders from the pretenders as the season's second half races toward the playoffs.
Tuesday's WNBA tilts feature a season-first clash between two young pro cores, as the No. 11 LA Sparks host the No. 7 Washington Mystics in the teams' last tilt before the 2025 All-Star break.
While Washington is a consistent presence above the playoff line in this season's standings — thanks in large part to the Mystics' two All-Star rookies, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen — LA is still finding their way.
Led by champion veterans Kelsey Plum and Azurá Stevens, the Sparks' roster includes youthful talent like forward Rickea Jackson and rookie guard Sarah Ashlee Barker, with this month's return of guard Rae Burrell from injury also boosting the young LA lineup.
"She's just the energizer bunny," Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said of Burrell. "She puts pressure on the defense. I feel like she's getting in a groove."
Even more, the Sparks are eyeing the return of their 2024 No. 2 overall draftee Cameron Brink, with the forward inching close to competitive play just over a year after an ACL tear ended her rookie campaign.
Currently sitting in a lottery position, LA will aim to dig out a win — and some much-needed midseason momentum — in their last game before the All-Star break:
- No. 7 Washington Mystics vs. No. 11 Los Angeles Sparks, Tuesday at 10 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Fresh off a Sunday victory over the No. 13 Connecticut Sun, the Sparks will look to claim their first back-to-back home wins this season when they try to upend a Mystics side that's comfortable playing in the clutch.