WNBAlien Special: Eastern Conference Playoff Scenarios

No, I haven’t covered tonight’s games yet, but anyone who cared probably just saw New York beat Indiana to keep everything nice and complicated in the East. So I thought I’d try to explain what remains in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

Two relevant games remain, both on Sunday: New York @ Connecticut (1pm ET), and Atlanta @ Indiana (5pm ET). Indiana have sealed the top seed, regardless of what happens. Here’s every remaining possibility:

 

If Connecticut beat New York, then Atlanta beat Indiana: #2 Conn, #3 Atlanta, #4 New York

If Connecticut beat New York, then Indiana beat Atlanta: #2 Conn, #3 New York, #4 Atlanta

If New York beat Connecticut, then Atlanta beat Indiana: #2 New York, #3 Conn, #4 Atlanta

If New York beat Connecticut, then Indiana beat Atlanta: #2 Conn, #3 New York, #4 Atlanta

 

So bizarrely, if New York beat Connecticut, they’ll know that they’re playing each other in the first round of the playoffs – but have to wait four hours for the result from Indiana to find out who has home court advantage. That’s because Connecticut win the two-way tie-breaker with New York (2-2 season series record, superior conference record), but come second in the three-way tie-breaker with New York and Atlanta (Connecticut were 2-2 with both the others in the regular season, but New York’s 3-2 season series record over Atlanta gives them the edge).

That’s the way my maths reads the situation, anyway.

Hope that made things clear. Or left you completely confused, but able to work out what might happen on Sunday regardless.

Back later with true daily update, featuring the Phoenix-Seattle game about to start.