The Liberty factor that will determine their race for No. 2 seed

The WNBA likely couldn’t construct a more exciting frenzy to wind down the regular season.

Apart from the league-leading Lynx, who are sitting with a 6 ¹/₂ game lead a playoff spot locked in, those behind them are fighting for the best remaining spots.

The race among the No. 2 Liberty (22-13) and the three teams down to fifth place — the Dream (22-13), Mercury (21-13) and Aces (22-14) — is especially tight heading into Thursday, with 8-10 games left for each team in the regular season.

After the Liberty earned a win over the Lynx on Tuesday, the Aces pulled off a come-from-behind win over the Dream, and the Mercury beat the Valkyries, there is only a half-game that separates the Liberty and Aces.