The final day of the WNBA regular season has arrived, and while we already know which teams will make the playoffs, some matchups are still up in the air.
Two games on tonight's schedule will be especially important: The Golden State Valkyries at the Minnesota Lynx (8 p.m. ET) and the Las Vegas Aces at the Los Angeles Sparks (10 p.m. ET).
The Lynx have already clinched the No. 1 overall seed and home-court advantage throughout the postseason. But Golden State will either be the No. 6 seed or the No. 8 seed depending on the outcome of their clash at Target Center.
What's at stake tonight
The Valkyries will lay claim to the No. 6 seed if they win, putting the Indiana Fever seventh and Seattle Storm eighth.
But if the Valkyries lose to the Lynx, Golden State will drop to the No. 8 seed, the Fever will slot in at No. 6 and the Storm will claim the No. 7 seed.
In the nightcap, a win by the Aces over the already-eliminated Sparks will earn them the No. 2 seed since they hold the tiebreaker over the Atlanta Dream. Atlanta moved ahead for the moment with an 88-72 win over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday.
WNBA playoff seedings
*clinched seed
- Minnesota Lynx (33-10)*
- Atlanta Dream (30-14)
- Las Vegas Aces (29-14)
- Phoenix Mercury (27-16)*
- New York Liberty (26-17)*
- Indiana Fever (24-20)
- Golden State Valkyries (23-20)
- Seattle Storm (23-21)
The only first-round playoff matchup that's already been determined is the No. 4 seed Mercury playing the No. 5 seed Liberty.
WNBA playoff format
The WNBA playoffs are set to begin Sept. 14 with the WNBA Finals scheduled to end by Oct. 19 at the latest. The top eight WNBA teams based on the overall regular-season standings qualify for the playoffs. The bracket will feature three postseason rounds, including the championship series. The first round will be a best-of-three series, while the semifinals will have best-of-five format. The WNBA Finals are a best-of-seven series, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7.
WNBA playoff bracket, schedule
The potential playoff matchups, pending the results of games on Thursday, Sept. 11. All four first-round series begin on Sunday, Sept. 14.
(1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) Golden State Valkyries or Seattle Storm
(2) Las Vegas Aces or Atlanta Dream vs. (7) Indiana Fever or Seattle Storm
(3) Las Vegas Aces or Atlanta Dream vs. (6) Golden State Valkyries or Indiana Fever
(4) Phoenix Mercury vs. (5) New York Liberty
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA playoff picture: What's at stake as regular season concludes
Reporting by Steve Gardner, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect