WNBA Weekly Power Rankings

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Her Hoop Stats

5 min readAug 13, 2019

Week of August 12, 2019

We’re already less than a month away from the start of the WNBA playoffs! Barring any crazy runs to close out the season, it seems pretty clear who we’ll be seeing in the 2019 playoffs (see the top eight teams, below). But where each team will be seeded is still far from clear.

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

1. Washington Mystics (↑1)

Record: 17–7, Offensive Rating: 114.2, Defensive Rating: 101.5, Net Rating: 12.7

The Mystics took care of business last week with two convincing wins over the Fever and the Lynx. They’ve reclaimed the top position in the league standings, and are still miles ahead of the rest of the league in offensive rating. With just one game against our top-four ranked teams remaining, Washington is in good standing to secure a double-bye in the playoffs if they perform as expected down the stretch.

2. Connecticut Sun (↓1)

Record: 16–8, Offensive Rating: 100.5, Defensive Rating: 97.2, Net Rating: 3.3

Connecticut struggled on the road this week, including a surprising 32-point loss at the Target Center to the Lynx on Friday. Their 8-point loss at Las Vegas is less eye-boggling, but still a little surprising considering the Aces are without A’ja Wilson. Earlier this season, we saw the Sun spiral into a five-game losing streak. With only 3.5 games separating first and sixth place in the league standings, the Sun will need to avoid a repeat to earn a playoff bye (or two).

3. Las Vegas Aces

Record: 16–9, Offensive Rating: 99.5, Defensive Rating: 93.5, Net Rating: 6.0

Vegas split a pair of games at home this week, with a loss to Chicago and a win over Connecticut. The 1–1 record for the week cost the Aces their place in the top three of the league standings (they fell to fourth). However, their league-leading defensive rating kept them at third in our rankings this week.

4. Los Angeles Sparks

Record: 15–8, Offensive Rating: 100.1, Defensive Rating: 98.2, Net Rating: 1.9

Make it five straight wins for the Sparks. LA picked up wins at home over Phoenix and Chicago this week, and claimed third place in the league standings. The Sparks sit at sixth and fifth in offensive and defensive rating, respectively. While their offensive rating has held pretty constant, their defensive rating has been on a steady rise in comparison to the rest of the league for the past month (just three weeks ago, their defensive rating was 99.7 and ranked eighth in the league) — which has helped them climb in our standings.

5. Chicago Sky

Record: 14–10, Offensive Rating: 100.8, Defensive Rating: 99.5, Net Rating: 1.3

Last week we noted that the Sky’s schedule will be more difficult going forward, as they play our top four teams seven times before the end of the season. Two of those games happened this week, and the Sky split the pair with a win at Vegas and a (notably narrow) loss at Los Angeles. If the Sky can continue to perform like they did this week down the stretch, they have a good shot at securing the five seed, if not a first round bye.

6. Seattle Storm (↑1)

Record: 14–11, Offensive Rating: 99.1, Defensive Rating: 97.5, Net Rating: 1.6

Seattle had a bit of an easier week, with games against New York and Dallas, but came a way with two double-digit wins. As the Storm battle for playoff seeding, they have four games remaining against our top four teams plus two more against teams currently expected to be in the playoffs — a tough schedule to close out the season is ahead.

7. Minnesota Lynx (↑1)

Record: 12–12, Offensive Rating: 98.9, Defensive Rating: 97.0, Net Rating: 1.9

The Lynx responded to their four-game losing streak with consecutive double-digit wins: a 16-point win at Atlanta and a 32-point beat down of the Sun. Those efforts began on the defensive end, where they held their opponents to an average score of 63 points. Despite ending the week on a 101–78 blowout loss to Washington, Minnesota will look to break out of their constant fluctuation and find an upward momentum during the final month of regular season.

8. Phoenix Mercury (↓2)

Record: 11–12, Offensive Rating: 101.4, Defensive Rating: 100.9, Net Rating: 0.5

The injury-riddled Mercury fell 84–74 in a battle of the frontcourts against the Sparks, and the messy loss against Dallas completed their winless week. With a dismal 35.8 field goal percentage, Phoenix couldn’t find its usual success on the offensive end. It hasn’t helped that forward DeWanna Bonner has shot below 30 percent in three consecutive games, averaging just 10.7 points per game in the stretch.

9. Indiana Fever

Record: 9–16, Offensive Rating: 101.0, Defensive Rating: 104.1, Net Rating: -3.1

Had it not been for facing the fiery Mystics, the Fever just might have had a four-game winning streak. Instead, Indiana has found itself deprived of that glory and is preparing to face Washington on the road again next week. Nevertheless, Indiana’s been riding high — posting the league’s second best offensive rating (107.1) last week behind its league-best 45.7 percent 3-point shooting.

10. Dallas Wings

Record: 7–17, Offensive Rating: 94.3, Defensive Rating: 101.1, Net Rating: -6.8

The Wings split last week’s two games, but the win was what counted. Things got ugly during Saturday’s battle between Dallas and Phoenix, but at the end of the night, Dallas stood on top. The 80–77 win ended its 18-game road losing streak that went back to last season. Earlier in the week, the Wings fell 57–69 to the Storm.

11. New York Liberty

Record: 8–15, Offensive Rating: 96.6, Defensive Rating: 105.3, Net Rating: -8.7

You can’t blame the Liberty for their recent tough schedule, but New York’s playoff hopes are looking thinner than ever. With two more losses, their losing streak reached five, and the -15.4 net rating this week was the second-worst in the league. On a brighter note, star Tina Charles is starting to show up, having posted her third consecutive game with at least 20 points. They were efficient too, with a three-game average of 53.7 percent shooting.

12. Atlanta Dream

Record: 5–19, Offensive Rating: 90.4, Defensive Rating: 101.8, Net Rating: -11.4

Speaking of streaks, there’s no news here: The Dream have reached consecutive loss number nine. The match in Indiana looked promising behind guard Tiffany Hayes’ career-high 34 points, but Atlanta struggled in the fourth quarter and fell, 87–82.

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 12.