WNBA Power Rankings: With Angel Reese out with an injury, Chennedy Carter will have to spearhead the Sky’s postseason aspirations.
Welcome to For The Win’s power rankings for Week 14 of the 2024 WNBA season. We’re back to torment you with our totally accurate but only-making-an-educated-guess-here rankings after a little break. In case you missed it, the regular season is almost over, and the playoffs will be here before you know it. These past few weeks have been somewhat wild.
The top teams in the league, such as the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, are essentially in the same situation as last year, but a number of clubs in the bottom half are engaged in a wild competition to win the WNBA’s eighth and last playoff position. This involves a Chicago Sky squad missing one of its key players, Angel Reese. Top scorer Chandler Carter will need to put on a spectacular show if Chicago is to get past the Atlanta Dream and the Washington Mystics to the semifinals.
The draft is now underway! Since they are no longer in the running for the playoffs, the Los Angeles Sparks should concentrate on winning as many games as they can and getting ready for the upcoming campaign. According to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Los Angeles has secured the best odds (44.2%) for the top overall choice, assuming there are no alterations to the 2025 WNBA Draft lottery with the Golden State State Valkyries included. In addition, the team is assured, regardless of the lottery results, of a top-three pick.
The Wings were beyond hope even with Satou Sabally in good condition. The problem hasn’t been the offensive. There are buckets on the wings. Dallas’ patchy defense has caused it to run into problems and out of the running for the playoffs. Dallas was defeated in every game it played last week, including a thrilling overtime match against the Atlanta Dream in which it had a 16-point lead. It needed to win all those games in order to gain ground, and now the faint hope for the playoffs has vanished almost as fast as it appeared.
In their past seven games, the Washington Mystics have a 5-2 record. I say it again: IN THEIR LAST SEVENTEEN GAMES, THE WASHINGTON MYSTICS ARE 5-2.I kind of do sound like I’m shouting at times. Throughout the entire season, I have expressed my admiration for the Mystics’ fight, given all the potential for injuries to arise. Washington has unexpectedly re-entered the postseason conversation; if the team advances, it would rank among the season’s biggest narratives.
Rhyne Howard has a heating system. In three consecutive games, the Atlanta Dream guard has scored 30 points or more. The issue lately, though, has been that when the shots aren’t falling, the rest of the team might occasionally be a little sluggish to arrive. That hasn’t yielded consistent outcomes over the previous week and isn’t a sustainable recipe for success.
Atlanta needed to defeat the Fever in overtime on Sunday in order to close the gap on Chicago for the eighth playoff place in the league. But in every game this season against Indiana, it has found itself offensively outmatched and unable to hold off the onslaught of shots. Perfect basketball has to happen immediately if Atlanta hopes to make the playoffs.
The storyline frequently claims that Angel Reese isn’t doing enough for the Sky, but now we’ll find out if it can function without Reese. Reese’s rebounds by alone have the ability to score her team nine points or more on any given night, as we have already witnessed. That is one huge swing that should not be on the ground. In addition, other players—primarily Chennedy Carter—must step up to fill Reese’s offensive void.
With two of the Sky’s next five games against teams fighting for a position in the playoffs, Carter, Chicago’s top scorer, will need to play lights out the rest of the way to give the team a shot to make it.
Until the Mercury win their remaining games AND win their first playoff series handily, they should not be considered seriously in any manner, shape, or form. Even with Gabby Williams added, it is another team that has failed to wow. Williams has made some contributions, but overall, her influence hasn’t been as great as I had anticipated. Seattle can win all five of its remaining games, which is a blessing because it will finally show me just how far a postseason run this squad can go.
Without the assistance of multiple players (including Caitlin Clark, of course), the Indiana Fever would not be able to recover from a 1-8 start to the season. But Kelsey Mitchell has been on an amazing roll since the Olympic break, and I haven’t seen enough appreciation for that, which has made the Fever a formidable playoff club.
Mitchell has just once finished below 20 points in ten games, averaging a scorching 24.9 points per game. Without her scoring and remarkable ability to make big baskets, I don’t think the Fever would have gone 8-2 during that production span. If A’ja Wilson’s injuries go beyond what Becky Hammon told the media, the Aces had better get busy pleading with the basketball gods for assistance right away.
There wouldn’t be enough buckets to hang with the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, or any other elite club in the league if she wasn’t playing for Las Vegas. That’s not meant to disparage the talented team. Simply put, A’ja is the beginning and finish of so much about how Vegas runs.
Hating on Connecticut feels like dirty work, and eventually I genuinely want the state to live up to its potential. However, I’m saying it again: seeing them play hoops is like buying really stylish jeans only to find out later that they have phony pockets. It is disheartening.
The pants function as intended, but the inability to store items in the pockets is a drawback because it leaves you wondering what to do with pants without pockets. Nothing. That’s the thing.The sun is that. The team can win the games it should and is completely operational. However, it cannot when it needs to dig deep into its finances in order to defeat elite teams.
Over the past week, the Minnesota Lynx have defeated a number of the worst teams in the league, but recently, their defense has shown very worrying signs. I’m not saying that anyone should freak out because it hasn’t looked as crisp as it should. Don’t say I didn’t tell you, though, that the Lynx’s defense, which was third in the WNBA going into the last two games, dropped to a 97.5 defensive rating (sixth in the league) from 95.1 during the season.
The tenacity of the New York Liberty has been put to the test in a number of games. After recovering from an injury, Sabrina Ionescu has had ups and downs, and now Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is coping with more injuries.
I won’t panic, but the Liberty need a healthy Laney-Hamilton and an entirely healthy Ionescu if they hope to make it back to the Finals. That is the essence of the issue. Ionescu strikes first, and Laney-Hamilton counters with additional strength. In order to win a championship, New York needs both.