WNBA playoff picture: Sun, Fever on first-round collision course?

WNBA playoff picture: Sun, Fever on first-round collision course? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Connecticut Sun may find themselves on center stage in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.

After their 86-66 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night, the Sun sit third in the WNBA standings at 26-10 with four games remaining in the regular season. If those standings hold, they’d get a first-round matchup with the the No. 6 seed — which happens to be Caitlin Clark and the red-hot Indiana Fever.

Here’s a look at the WNBA standings as of Wednesday, Sept. 11:

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The Fever are all but locked into the No. 6 seed, so the only variable is if the Sun can catch the No. 2 seed Minnesota Lynx to move into the No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup.

While the Lynx have won 11 of their last 12 games, they still have to face the No. 1 seed New York Liberty and have a head-to-head matchup with Connecticut on Sept. 17. The Sun own the season-long tiebreaker over Minnesota, so a win in that game could vault them into the second seed.

Here’s a look at Connecticut’s remaining schedule:

• Friday, Sept. 13: at Phoenix Mercury, 10 p.m. ET (ION)

• Sunday, Sept. 15: at Las Vegas Aces, 6 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)

• Tuesday, Sept. 17: vs. Minnesota Lynx, 7 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)

• Thursday, Sept. 19: vs. Chicago Sky, 7 p.m. ET (NBC Sports Boston)

If the Sun stay at No. 3 and draw the Fever, however, it might be the WNBA’s most exciting first-round matchup.

There’s the obvious Clark factor; after a rocky start to her WNBA career, the rookie phenom has blossomed into one of the league’s best players, earning three consecutive WNBA Player of the Week honors while guiding the Fever to a 16-5 record in their last 21 games.

But Clark would face a stiff challenge in the Sun, who boast the league’s best scoring defense and have an elite on-ball defender in DiJonai Carrington. Clark committed a whopping 25 turnovers in four matchups against Connecticut this season — tied with the Atlanta Dream for her most against any opponent — with the Sun winning three of those four games.

Indiana upset Connecticut in the teams’ most recent meeting, though, and Clark is playing the best basketball of her young career. So if we do get Sun vs. Fever when the playoffs begin Sept. 22, grab your popcorn for what would be a highly entertaining series.