WNBA Wraparound: Napheesa Collier dominates, a great WNBA rivalry is born, and the Aces lose back-to-back games

3 highlights from the WNBA last week

The Minnesota Lynx win back-to-back games against Las Vegas: The defending champions from 2022 and 2023 have struggled more this season than they have in a few years. The Lynx definitely took advantage of that last week when these teams played twice. In both games, Minnesota's chemistry, defense, and depth made them the better team. The Lynx held off the Aces' quest to move past them in the standings, while also locking in a playoff berth, and cementing themselves as WNBA title contenders. Minnesota won the first game 98-87, and the second two days later, 87-74.

The Connecticut Sun save themselves from a Liberty season sweep: The first- and second-place team matches are always fun to watch, but the Sun were playing for a bit of pride as well. The New York Liberty had won the previous three contests this season and had the potential to sweep the Sun 4-0 this season. Yet, the Sun were not going to let them have it — not to mention the number one seed for the playoffs has not been clinched yet. The newest team member, Marina Mabrey, led the charge with 15 points and a plus-minus of plus-18 to help the Sun overcome the Liberty. The Sun are still three games back behind New York in that number one spot, but winning this game definitely helped a little. Could this be a playoff preview? Even a Finals preview?

Napheesa Collier takes over for the Lynx: While the Lynx beating the Aces twice last week is a highlight, Napheesa Collier deserves a highlight of her own. The Western Conference Player of the Week is putting up numbers as the Lynx are currently on a six-game winning streak. She grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds against Las Vegas last week and scored 31 points against Indiana right before. She impacts every aspect of the game — leading the team in points, rebounds, steals, minutes, field goal percentage, and 2-pointers made. It's weird to say the race is for second-place in MVP voting, with A'ja Wilson putting up such amazing numbers, but Collier should definitely be getting those second-place votes.

2 WNBA Games to tune into this Week:

Connecticut Sun vs. Indiana Fever: Wednesday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m. ET

The Indiana Fever have been fun to watch post-Olympic break (and all year). The rest they got have definitely given them the edge, and they are barrelling towards their first playoff appearance since 2016. Of course, Caitlin Clark is bringing the crowds, but the rest of the team isn't just sitting around. The team is locked in, oozing chemistry, and having fun along the way. It's nice to see the pieces come together for this young core of Clark, Aliyah Boston, NaLyssa Smith, and others. They've been performing well against every team regardless of record, so it will be fun to see how they fare against a top team like the Sun.

Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky: Friday, Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m. ET

Another Fever game, but this one is a budding rivalry. With Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese being two of the biggest names to come out of the draft this year, fans have relentlessly pitted the two players against each other. While a lot of this is unwarranted, it's provided a playoff-like experience between two young teams. Plus, the Fever and Sky currently sit on the 7th/8th seed cusp of making the playoffs — both desperate to hold their spots. We know it's all love and respect OFF the court, this match-up is set to be pretty outstanding on the court. Both the Fever and Sky are young teams with the next generation of WNBA stardom, so it'll be a great match no matter the result. A great way to kick off your long weekend, a Sky vs Fever game is quickly becoming a must-see event in the WNBA.

1 storyline to monitor this week: The top-5 seeds are CLOSE

As we charge toward the end of the regular season on Sep. 19, it's still hard to tell which teams will land where on the standings. The top seeds in particular are quite close.

New York leads the pack with a record of 26-5. Three games behind them are the Sun at 22-7, yet the Lynx are trailing them at 22-8, 3.5 games behind first. The Seattle Storm are 18-11, seven games behind and Las Vegas is in fifth at 18-12, just a half-game behind Seattle. The Phoenix Mercury could also poke up into that top-5, as they sit 10 games behind first place, with a record of 16-15.

A reminder, the top-four seeds secure homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Yet, the bracket implications are intense seed by seed. If Connecticut holds strong and stays in second place, they would avoid seeing the Liberty until the Finals, if both teams make it. Ultimately, the Aces would probably like to avoid seeing the Liberty until a potential final as well. Minnesota would enjoy the easier first-round matchups that would come with securing the second seed from Connecticut. The difference (currently) is a series versus Indiana or a series versus Phoenix.

More and more, it looks like this will all come down to the last days of the season.