Every Monday during the regular season, Maurice Brooks and Aryeh Schwartz will rank the WNBA teams from 1 to 12. Also, Insidr beat writers will provide interesting tidbits on each team that they cover.
1. Seattle Storm (Last week: 1 | record: 21-7)
The Storm are looking more and more like they are preparing for not only a deep playoff run but also a championship run. They had an undefeated week, beating New York, Minnesota and Phoenix in convincing fashion. Jewell Loyd has been playing like an All-Star while Breanna Stewart is playing like an MVP. Pair that with one of the greatest point guards of all time running the offense and this team looks pretty unbeatable come playoff time. — Nicholas LeTourneau
2. Atlanta Dream (Last week: 2 | record: 18-10)
I don’t think anyone really predicted that the Dream would be this good this season. They went 2-1 in the week with their only loss being to the Washington Mystics, but also managed two big wins against Chicago and Minnesota. Head coach Nicki Collen has them playing well, All-Star Angel McCoughtry is playing like she did in her prime, and Tiffany Hayes is a dark-horse MVP candidate given how her play impacts this team. — Nicholas LeTourneau
3. Los Angeles Sparks (Last week: 5 | record: 17-11)
For the first time all season, the Sparks are fully healthy, and it shows. After losing five straight at home going into the All-Star break, Los Angeles emerged on the other side finally healthy, with two big wins against contending teams. Thursday’s beat down against the Lynx was a reminder as to how dominant this team is when healthy and clicking. –– Brady Klopfer
4. Washington Mystics (Last week: 4 | record: 16-11)
The Mystics defeated the Wings, 76-74, Sunday night. Kristi Toliver scored the last eight points. In a game with no Skylar Diggins-Smith and a down game from Elena Delle Donne, the Mystics did just enough to get by. The team is 16-11, but their overall record is still pending, as the canceled game on Friday is still being reviewed. If the game results come back as a forfeit, one more win will be tacked on the Mystics’ win column. — Jasmine Brown
5. Phoenix Mercury (Last week: 6 | record: 16-13)
The Mercury came out of the All-Star break and continued their losing ways with a 102-91 loss at home this past Tuesday night against the league-best Seattle Storm. Despite getting a combined 59 points from its All-Star trio, Phoenix had no answer defensively to slow down the best offensive team in the WNBA. On the second night of a back-to-back, the Mercury bounced back with a 104-93 road win over the Las Vegas Aces this past Wednesday night. Along with holding Vegas to 2-of-11 from three, the Mercury got 82 combined points from Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, and DeWanna Bonner in the win. But on Sunday afternoon, Phoenix’s lack of depth was exposed in a 78-75 road loss against the LA Sparks. Despite getting 53 combined points from its big three, the Mercury bench was outscored 18-6 by LA’s bench in the contest. — Pat Ralph
6.Connecticut Sun (Last week: 8 | record: 16-12)
The Sun have really taken form recently. Yes, they dropped one to the top team in the league but Jonquel Jones is playing like her 2017 self and along with a healthy roster, this makes this team a scary one at this playoff push. — Aryeh Schwartz
7. Minnesota Lynx (Last week: 3 | record: 15-13)
Every time I think the Lynx get their groove back, it’s back to the drawing board.A tough 0-3 out of the All Star break and the team at times looks exhausted. None of their offseason moves have truly helped and they have struggled at times to find a consistent scoring option. Still, on any given night this team can beat anyone in the WNBA. — Aryeh Schwartz
8. Dallas Wings (Last week: 7 | record: 14-14)
The struggle is real for the Wings as they head into this week on a surprising 5-games losing streak after peaking at No. 3 in the standings in early July behind a 5-game win streak. The team currently has a strangle-hold on the 8th spot in the standings and need to put some wins together fast before they fall out of playoff contention altogether. They’ve been without the services of star guard Skylar Diggins-Smith, who has missed two consecutive games with a facial injury. This team is young, talented and hungry – but they must play with a sense of urgency here on out. –– Dorothy Gentry
9. Las Vegas Aces (Last week: 9 | record: 12-15)
The Aces are probably the most intriguing team at the moment. After refusing to play the game against the Mystics due to traveling woes, it sparked a much needed debate on how players should be treated in the future. As far as on the court, the team found themselves in a blowout loss against the Sun on Sunday afternoon. The Aces have no time to lose, as this game they refused to play in may be crucial regarding their chances in the postseason. — Jasmine Brown
10. Chicago Sky (Last week: 10 | record: 10-18)
Chicago continues to show promising signs, as evidenced in Tuesday’s impressive road victory over the Wings. With their eyes firmly on the future, the Sky have displayed promising signs that they’ll be one of the league’s elite within a few years. — Brady Klopfer
11. New York Liberty (Last week: 11 | record: 7-20)
New York’s losing streak was extended to five straight last Wednesday night as the Liberty dropped a 92-77 road game to the Connecticut Sun. Despite shooting the ball well, the Liberty just did not have enough defense to slow down a hot-shooting Connecticut team. The Liberty then closed out the week with arguably their worst offensive performance of the season in a 68-55 home loss to the last-place Indiana Fever. It was a sloppy game for New York as well, in which the Liberty committed 19 turnovers and shot 4-of-23 from three. — Pat Ralph
12. Indiana Fever (Last week: 12 | record: 5-23)
The Fever were officially eliminated from the playoffs last week. But somebody forgot to tell them. The Fever are on a two-game win streak (Wings and Liberty) and won consecutive games for the first time since May 20 and 24, 2017. The last place Fever have won three of their last five games and eliminated the Liberty (7-20) from the playoffs on Saturday night. With the season coming to an end (six games left) the Fever have nothing to lose. They will host the top-seeded Storm on Tuesday night. — Dorothy Gentry
