Dream-Fever playoff race could produce WNBA’s best first-round matchup

The most entertaining first-round matchup in the WNBA playoffs already may be sitting directly in front of everyone.

Atlanta and Indiana enter the final week with identical 26-14 records. The Dream currently hold the No. 4 seed, while the Fever sit fifth.

If nothing changes, the two teams will meet in the opening round. That would place Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston against an Atlanta team featuring Angel Reese, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard.

It also would make every result over the final eight days matter.

The No. 4 seed will host Game 1 and a potential Game 3 under the league’s 1-1-1 first-round format. The fifth seed will host only Game 2.

Atlanta opens its final stretch Thursday against Connecticut before hosting Chicago on Saturday. The Dream then visit New York for consecutive games Sept. 21 and Sept. 23.

Reese’s first season with Atlanta has changed the shape of the Dream’s roster. The 24-year-old is averaging 16.1 points and a league-leading 12.4 rebounds. She also has provided Atlanta with the physical presence and edge needed to compete against the league’s best teams, according to Basketball Reference.

Reese delivered one of the season’s most memorable performances during Atlanta’s late-August West Coast trip. She collected a WNBA-record 26 rebounds in a 78-71 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.

The win completed a perfect 4-0 trip for Atlanta.

The Dream then entered the World Cup break with an 89-81 victory over Minnesota, handing the league-leading Lynx their second consecutive defeat.

Atlanta’s success is not built around one player.

Gray leads the team in scoring, Howard remains one of the WNBA’s most dangerous perimeter threats and Jordin Canada organizes an offense averaging 90.8 points per game.

That balance makes the Dream difficult to defend. Opponents cannot overload toward Reese inside without creating opportunities for Atlanta’s guards and wings.

MORE: Why Fever-Lynx doubleheader could decide WNBA’s No. 1 seed

Atlanta should have an opportunity to build momentum against Connecticut and Chicago, two teams eliminated from playoff contention. The final two games against New York will be different.

The Liberty are 24-16 and tied with Washington and Dallas near the bottom of the playoff bracket. New York could climb several spots with two victories over Atlanta.

The Dream also could use those games to secure fourth and potentially challenge Las Vegas for third. Indiana, meanwhile, closes with a more difficult schedule. The Fever visit Toronto, host Washington and then play Minnesota twice.

That creates a significant opportunity for Atlanta. If the Dream handle their first two games, Indiana may be forced to sweep the Lynx to keep pace. It also creates the possibility that Atlanta and Indiana spend the entire final week attempting to avoid one another, only to end up meeting in the playoffs anyway.

The matchup would have everything the league could want: star power, contrasting styles, rebounding battles, perimeter scoring and one of the largest potential audiences of the opening round.

Before that can happen, Atlanta must protect its narrow tiebreaker advantage and finish a breakthrough regular season properly.