WNBA Weekly Power Rankings

Published in

Her Hoop Stats

5 min readAug 20, 2019

Week of August 19, 2019

Playoff season is almost upon us and three teams clinched a playoff berth this past weekend. It really comes as no surprise that the Mystics, Aces and Sun have secured their bids. While they haven’t locked in their seeds yet, barring any crazy happenings in the next couple of weeks, they are expected to finish as the top three teams.

However, for seeds 4 through 8, there’s no shortage of surprises and remaining questions. Will Los Angeles or Chicago (or maybe even a dark horse candidate) get the coveted fourth spot with a bye? How will the seeds and match-ups for the bottom four seeds shake out? The next three weeks will have a big impact on those answers, which may not be decided until the final day of the regular season.

Here are this week’s rankings (movements from last week’s rankings are noted in parentheses):

1. Washington Mystics

Record: 20–7, Offensive Rating: 115.2, Defensive Rating: 100.3, Net Rating: 14.9

The Mystics swept their games last week with three wins, still have the best offensive rating by a mile, and set a WNBA record for three-pointers in a single game with 18 made shots from beyond the arc. They also clinched a playoff spot and remain at the top of the WNBA standings. Basically, Washington’s week just proved that they still belong on top.

2. Las Vegas Aces (↑1)

Record: 18–9, Offensive Rating: 101.0, Defensive Rating: 94.6, Net Rating: 6.4

A’ja Wilson is back, and she gives the Aces the bump they needed to move up into second place in our power rankings. Vegas played only two games this week, the first of which was a rather underwhelming 94–90 win over the Dream at home. However, with Wilson returning on Sunday — with a 25-point, 8-rebound performance in just 26 minutes, we might add — the Aces also added a win over the Sky to their resume and clinched a playoff spot.

3. Connecticut Sun (↓1)

Record: 19–8, Offensive Rating: 100.6, Defensive Rating: 96.8, Net Rating: 3.8

The final team to clinch a playoff spot this weekend fell one spot in our power rankings to number three. The Sun rebounded well from their two-game losing streak, picking up three wins at Phoenix and against Seattle and Dallas this week. However, A’ja Wilson’s performance gave the Aces the extra bump this week. We should get a better idea of how these two teams compare when they play each other on Friday night.

4. Chicago Sky (↑1)

Record: 15–11, Offensive Rating: 101.4, Defensive Rating: 100.4, Net Rating: 1.0

The Sky had a challenging week, playing both the Sparks and the Aces at home. They emerged from it 1–1, and have now split a pair of games with two of the league’s stronger opponents over the last two weeks. Chicago has exceeded our— and likely many others’ — expectations down the stretch so far, which earned them the bump-up to fourth this week.

5. Los Angeles Sparks (↓1)

Record: 15–10, Offensive Rating: 100.1, Defensive Rating: 99.1, Net Rating: 1.0

The resumes of the Sparks and the Sky are almost too close to call who should be ranked fourth and fifth this week. Los Angeles and Chicago split their double-header, which spanned the past two weeks, but the Sparks also picked up a rather surprising loss at Dallas. LA still sits at fourth place in the standings, but Chicago is vigorously coming after the coveted first-round bye.

6. Phoenix Mercury (↑2)

Record: 13–13, Offensive Rating: 101.2, Defensive Rating: 100.3, Net Rating: 0.9

Diana Taurasi has been medically cleared to play. That’s all.

Just kidding — Phoenix also went 2–1 this week without Brittney Griner on the court and managed to play Connecticut closely in the loss. With Griner and Taurasi back, the Mercury look like the best team among the last three (Phoenix/Seattle/Minnesota) likely to be in playoff contention.

7. Seattle Storm (↓1)

Record: 15–13, Offensive Rating: 98.9, Defensive Rating: 98.4, Net Rating: 0.5

It was a difficult decision ranking the Storm behind the Mercury. After all, had it not been for the back-to-back turnovers in the closing seconds against the Sun, Seattle would have recorded two wins last week, which might have put them over the edge. Regardless, the two losses, including an 88–59 blowout to Washington, hurt the Storm’s ranking this week.

8. Minnesota Lynx (↓1)

Record: 13–14, Offensive Rating: 99.6, Defensive Rating: 97.8, Net Rating: 1.8

Numbers suggest Minnesota had a stronger week than Seattle last week: better net rating (-0.9 to -8.6), rebound percentage (50.7 to 50.2), assist percentage (70.3 to 62.7) and true shooting percentage (57.7 to 55.0). But look past the defeat against the Mystics and the Storm topped the Lynx in each of those categories except assist percentage. When they went head-to-head, Seattle beat Minnesota, 82–74.

9. Indiana Fever

Record: 9–17, Offensive Rating: 100.6, Defensive Rating: 105.5, Net Rating: -4.9

Washington’s WNBA-record 18 3-pointers made did not bode well for Indiana, which fell 107–68 and posted a horrific -47.7 net rating in their only game last week. Forward Candice Dupree left the floor early due to a finger injury, and her status remains a question.

10. Dallas Wings

Record: 9–18, Offensive Rating: 95.6, Defensive Rating: 101.6, Net Rating: -6.0

The Wings saw their best win streak of the season last week, when they beat the New York Liberty for their third consecutive win. Propelling their success was their offense: Western Conference Player of the Week Arike Ogunbowale averaged 25.3 points per game over the three games, including a season-high 35 points against Los Angeles. Guard Allisha Gray also impressed with a career-high 22 points in back-to-back games against New York and Connecticut.

11. New York Liberty

Record: 8–18, Offensive Rating: 96.7, Defensive Rating: 105.8, Net Rating: -9.1

The Liberty lost all three games last week, and their losing streak has hit eight. While there were several great individual performances — Rebecca Allen’s career-high 28 points against the Lynx, Tina Charles’ 23 points and 13 rebounds against Phoenix — they never could put it together for a full team effort. With games against Indiana and Atlanta next, they could break their streak soon.

12. Atlanta Dream

Record: 5–21, Offensive Rating: 91.3, Defensive Rating: 102.5, Net Rating: -11.2

Despite their 11-game losing streak, the Dream’s disappointments last week pertained particularly to the fourth quarters. Atlanta held the lead entering the fourth quarter against both Phoenix and Las Vegas but failed to claim any wins. If they can put four quarters together, they may have a chance to get in the win column this week.

If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year. All stats are compiled from Basketball-Reference for games through August 19.