SEATTLE — The Sky are barely holding onto a playoff spot heading into the ninth week of the WNBA season.
Entering their game Friday against the Storm, the Sky are tied with the Dream for seventh in the league with a 7-11 record. Their stretch of games ahead of the All-Star break is unforgiving, with five of the six against three of the league’s top five teams.
Last year, the Sky clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth with a win in the second-to-last game of the regular season. This year, avoiding that same rat race will require a renewed level of focus right now.
“These one-, two-possession games, you always look back and think, ‘Damn, that really could have made a difference,’ ” Diamond DeShields said.
DeShields was a rookie on the last Sky team that failed to make the playoffs, in 2018. The difference, she said, between making the playoffs and being on the outside looking in is “certain things you might not pay attention to.”
“We’re sitting at eight right now,” DeShields said. “But we have the series with Indiana that’s going to be really important. Certain things you might not pay attention to, but they really matter in terms of where it’ll fall.”
The standings indicate that the Sky likely will be battling the Dream and Fever for the final playoff spot.
Two-team ties are decided by their head-to-head record. If necessary, the second tiebreaker is a team’s record against .500-plus teams. The Sky and Dream have split their two games, with a third coming up Wednesday at Wintrust Arena. They play again Sept. 17 in Atlanta.
The Sky’s first step in securing their sixth straight postseason appearance is beating the Dream next week. When it comes to closing out the first half of the season, stealing at least one game against the Storm, Liberty and Aces is critical.
The Dream are without guard Rhyne Howard, who suffered an ankle injury in their loss to the Lynx on June 19. Since then, they’ve gone 1-4. But before Howard’s injury, the Dream were .500 with a notable win against the Aces. They beat the No. 2 Sun last week. The Sky’s lone win against a top-five team was against the Liberty in the second week of the season.
The Fever (8-13) are the second-biggest threat to the Sky’s playoff pursuit. The Fever played one of the toughest schedules to start the season, with eight of their first 11 games against the top five teams. As a result, their schedule after the All-Star break offers some respite.
They have a 2-1 lead in head-to-head matchups against the Sky. The teams’ fourth game is Aug. 30 in Chicago. The Sky will need that win to avoid giving up the first tiebreaker to the Fever.
The biggest concern with the Sky missing the playoffs is having to send a lottery pick to the Wings. The first-round-pick swap was part of former coach/general manager James Wade’s trade for guard Marina Mabrey. But with the Wings currently on the outside of the playoff picture, that’s not a threat looming over the Sky.
If the Wings and Sky both miss the playoffs, then the Sky would still come away with a lottery pick. But if they ended up with a higher pick than the Wings, the swap would be implemented.
“I’m definitely looking [at the playoff picture], because as a veteran player, it’s my responsibility,” DeShields said. “Even this road trip, we need to try to get these [wins]. Even though we’re playing against a really talented team, we need to go out and play like it’s going to impact us in September, because it will.”