For the last five years, I have cleared my schedule for every A’ja Wilson versus Breanna Stewart matchup — and there have been many. They are the two defining players of this WNBA generation, with a combined six MVPs and six titles between them, and the faces of USA Basketball. They relish the competition of playing against the best at their position and raise their levels when they meet.
The Wilson-Stewart era is far from over. Wilson is on pace to be MVP yet again, while Stewart is putting together yet another All-WNBA season. Although the Las Vegas Aces sit higher in the standings, the New York Liberty have mostly gotten the best of them this season, including in the Commissioner’s Cup final. A playoff series between them (a fifth matchup in seven seasons) would be high-level theater.
It would be near-impossible for another individual rivalry to reach those heights — again, look at all the hardware the two have in their trophy cases — but it was fun to get a look at the future during the aptly-named rivals week. Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark have a lot more winning to do to reach the Wilson-Stewart level, but they do have the right ingredients in place. They’re elite players at essentially the same position who came up together through USA Basketball; like Stewart and Wilson, they each were the MVP at a U-19 World Cup. They both had outstanding college careers, and now they are trying to compete for titles in the WNBA.
Bueckers and Clark have met only three times in the pros, and the first was mostly forgettable. The last two, however, have been worth the wait. The third quarter of Friday’s game between Dallas and Indiana was a true highlight, as these two unselfish guards kept trying to one-up the other as bucket-getters. Six of their baskets were immediately followed by points from the other, including a very fun stretch in which Clark hit a layup, Bueckers followed with a pull-up 3, Clark responded with a pull-up jumper and Bueckers hit another shot in the midrange. Not a lot of passing from the nominal point guards, but the budding seeds of a longer rivalry.
Ideally, the Wings and Fever will meet in the playoffs (with Azzi Fudd and Jessica Shepard both healthy by that point) and give this matchup the stakes it deserves. For now, it’s an enjoyable undercard to the Wilson-Stewart rivalry.
| Rank | Team | Previous rank |
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5 | 1 | |
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11 | 13 | |
12 | 10 | |
13 | 15 | |
14 | 12 | |
15 | 14 |
Trending up
Indiana Fever
The Fever’s big three has been rock-solid all season, and the never-ending question has been who fills the gaps in Indiana’s best lineups. Lexie Hull has a track record of success on the wing. Even if she isn’t putting up a high volume of shots, she is respected as a spacer and has a never-ending motor. And if Hull is having an off night, Sophie Cunningham can step into that 3-and-D role.
It’s the power forward spot that has been more of a quagmire for the Fever, but KK Timpson recently has taken ownership of that position. The second-year forward’s defense has always been ahead of her offense, but she has improved just enough on that end to justify her minutes. Rather than clog the paint, even though she doesn’t have much shooting range, Timpson has become a very good cutter, and there’s arguably no better passer in the league at finding cutters than Clark. When defenses collapse on Timpson, she’s increasingly comfortable making plays with the ball. Of late, she has made some tough wrap-around passes to Aliyah Boston in the lane.
Timpson is also a more versatile defender than the other players on Indiana’s roster. Not only can she switch onto guards, but she can also serve as the primary defender on perimeter players. That allows for unconventional cross-matches, which are necessary when the Fever need to hide Clark on a less threatening player.
Timpson has set her career-high multiple times in the last two weeks, most recently scoring 20 against Atlanta to help Indiana earn a road win and tie the season series. She didn’t attempt a single shot outside of the restricted area, but she doesn’t have to — not when she’s also cleaning the glass and defending the rim. Timpson has taken huge strides since last year’s postseason, when she mostly came on as a defensive sub. Now, she positively impacts both sides of the ball.
Seattle Storm
This placement is more reflective of the Natisha Hiedeman version of the Seattle Storm than if she ends up missing extended time. Side note, kudos to Hiedeman for putting together the third-longest consecutive games streak (256) in league history before a shoulder injury ended it Sunday.
But the Storm had a nice week regardless, comfortably beating the Chicago Sky before coming up just short against Portland and Chicago the second time around. Their defense is coming along nicely, which figures to be the identity of a team with so many long and athletic wings and bigs. They’re forcing a high volume of turnovers (17 percent of opponents’ possessions) and have the third-lowest opposing effective field-goal percentage. Seattle emphasizes getting in the gaps and creating deflections; that aggression sometimes manifests itself in getting too foul-happy, but it’s a reasonable trade-off for a young team.
If you’re not watching Dom Malonga hoop, you’re missing out. 👀 pic.twitter.com/52hwMmVJdm
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) August 11, 2026
If the Storm weren’t a horrific clutch-time group — they are 2-15 in games within five points in the final five minutes — they would resemble a run-of-the-mill lottery squad rather than the worst team in the WNBA. As it stands, their point differential is better than the Tempo and the Sun despite having lost more games.
Trending down
Los Angeles Sparks
The Sparks can’t shake the injury bug. After losing Kelsey Plum for six weeks, they traded her for Monique Akoa Makani, who has now missed four straight games. On top of that, Los Angeles lost Cameron Brink to a broken rib amid arguably the best stretch of her professional career.
Without two of their best plus-minus players (Akoa Makani has replaced Plum atop that leaderboard for the Sparks), L.A. is once again on a four-game losing streak. The Sparks haven’t been able to get to the line or hit 3s during this stretch; they’re averaging the fewest free throws per game and shooting less than 30 percent from beyond the arc. Even a relatively good defensive stretch — L.A. has been about league average over the past week — hasn’t been enough to overcome the absence of easy points.
Rebounding has been a struggle for the Sparks of late. None of their guards are that active on the glass, and Dearica Hamby and Brink are below-average rebounders for their position. Only the Tempo and the Aces have conceded a higher percentage of offensive rebounds during this stretch. L.A. hasn’t let go of the rope yet, as most of its losses have come down to the final minutes. But the Sparks are losing the margins, and that sets them back 8 to 10 points every game.
Rookie of the week
Kiki Rice, Toronto Tempo
(Reminder: This isn’t the best rookie of the week, rather a player who caught my eye)
Rice has played seven games since returning from her ankle injury; during that stretch, she’s averaging 9.1 points on 41.5 percent shooting and tallying three rebounds and three assists per game. She perked up this past week, totaling 31 points and 11 assists (with only one turnover) against Atlanta and Dallas while making more than 50 percent of her field-goal attempts. Rice’s best skill remains getting into the paint and putting pressure on the rim; she’s a good finisher but also reads the floor well as a passer from the paint. Rice also pushes the pace off rebounds and in transition, which is another useful opportunity for her to score in the lane.
The rookie has been a decent perimeter defender as well, despite an absolutely terrible defensive context in Toronto; the Tempo have the worst defensive rating in the league, and it’s not particularly close. Rice is very good on-ball — she stayed attached to Paige Bueckers as Toronto held Bueckers scoreless (0-of-7 shooting) in the first half of their loss to the Wings.
Rice is disruptive and has the size and speed to keep up with most opposing ballhandlers. She has been a little less effective off the ball and sinks too far into the paint sometimes; it doesn’t seem like she has fully appreciated how willing and capable WNBA players are at shooting from beyond the arc compared to their college counterparts.
If Rice hadn’t been hurt, she likely would be an all-rookie lock. As it stands, the Tempo have to be happy with her progress. They haven’t won a game since Rice came back, but they are putting themselves in the best possible position to get Rice a good young running mate in the 2027 draft.
Game to circle
Minnesota Lynx at Golden State Valkyries, 10 p.m. (ET) Wednesday, USA Network
Golden State has had an excellent second season. The Valkyries (24-9) have clinched a postseason berth with a quarter of the season still to play. They have the best defensive rating and second-best net rating in the WNBA (plus-8.7) and sit in second place in the league standings. Golden State also had its first All-Star starter in 2026, with Gabby Williams earning the nod after joining the team during the offseason.
The only thing the Valkyries really haven’t done in 2026 is beat the Aces or the Lynx. They are 0-3 against Las Vegas and 0-2 against Minnesota, but they’ll presumably have to go through one (if not both) of the league’s other two top teams en route to a title. This is an important opportunity for Golden State to prove itself on its homecourt against top competition before the playoffs. Even though the Valkyries haven’t yet taken a win off the Lynx, the last three games have been must-see. Two of them came down to the final possession with the ball in former Minnesota guard Cecilia Zandalasini’s hand, and the other was a three-point game in the last minute. It’s only a matter of time before Golden State breaks through, but the Lynx (29-7) are the top team in the league for a reason.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, Portland Fire, Toronto Tempo, WNBA
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