NEW YORK — It took until the final day of the 2024 WNBA season for the playoff pool to be determined, but the Atlanta Dream claimed the eighth and final spot in the postseason with a 78-67 win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.

Atlanta entered the night needing a win to secure its second consecutive playoff spot. Even though New York had secured the No. 1 overall seed Tuesday night, Liberty still played a solid rotation through the first half and began the third quarter with four of its usual starters still in action.

Dream center Tina Charles closed out the win with 10 points and 10 rebounds, setting new WNBA records for rebounds and double-doubles in the game. She passed Sylvia Fowles’ 4,006 rebounds record just over three minutes into the first quarter and Fowles’ 193 double-doubles record midway through the third quarter. Charles, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun, is the only player in WNBA history to have more than 4,000 rebounds and 7,000 career points.

Dream winger Rhyne Howard and forward Naz Hillmon were Atlanta’s top players with 13 points each.

Now with their first consecutive wins and postseason appearance since 2013-14, the Dreams won’t have far to travel. They’ve packed up for a weeklong trip to New York and will play the Liberty again on Sunday to open the postseason.

“This year is special. This has definitely been the toughest year for us with everything that’s happened,” coach Tanisha Wright said. “I’m really proud of our athletes for continuing to fight and never giving up because I think it’s easy to give up after the season that we’ve had… They’ve fought all year, regardless of our circumstances, regardless of who was available to us and so that’s a special group there.”

Thursday night had the potential for some madness. The Washington Mystics could have clinched a playoff spot with a win, the Dream a loss, and the Chicago Sky a win. The Sky, meanwhile, would have claimed the final playoff spot if they had won and both Atlanta and Washington had lost. Atlanta would have clinched a spot even with a loss, due to Chicago’s loss.

The Mystics, playing before a new WNBA record of 20,711 fans, defeated the Indiana Fever 92-91 on Thursday. Indiana had already secured sixth place and each of its five starters played 20 minutes or less. The Connecticut Sun defeated the Chicago Sky 87-54, eliminating Chicago from the postseason and securing third place. As a result of Connecticut’s win, the Las Vegas Aces secured fourth place.

Playoff matches

Below you will find the post-season matches and kick-off times for Sunday.

Freedom (1) vs. Dream (8) — 1:00 PM ET
Lynx (2) vs. Mercury (7) — 5:00 PM ET
Sun (3) vs. Fever (6) – 3pm ET
Aces (4) vs. Storm (5) 10:00 PM ET

What is the WNBA playoff format?

Following the 2021 season, the WNBA changed its playoff format to do away with single-elimination playoffs and byes to the semifinals for the top two seeds. Under the new format, the top eight teams from the regular season, regardless of conference, qualify for the postseason, with all eight competing in a best-of-three series for the first round. The first two games of the series are held on the home court of the top-seeded team, with the lower-seeded team then hosting a Game 3 if necessary. No lower-seeded team has ever surprised the higher-seeded team in the new series format.

The winners of the respective first-round series will advance to the semifinals in the bracket, where the remaining four teams will compete in a best-of-five series. The semifinals will begin on September 29.

The respective winners of those series will then advance to the WNBA Finals, which will also be a best-of-five series. The WNBA Finals begin on October 10, with a potential Game 5 scheduled for October 20.

What history could be written in the post-season?

Here’s some of what’s at stake in the playoffs:

• The Aces are looking to become the first franchise to win three consecutive championships since the Houston Comets, who won four straight titles from 1997-2000.
• The Liberty are seeking their first championship in franchise history after losing five WNBA Finals, including last season.
• The Sun enter the playoffs with the longest active streak, dating back to 2017. Forward DeWanna Bonner has played in 80 postseason games and needs just three more appearances to set a new record for career postseason appearances. She is on the verge of passing both Rebekkah Brunson (81) and Lindsay Whalen (82).
• Mercury guard Diana Taurasi is already the WNBA’s leading scorer in the postseason (1,455 points), but she can add to her resume in what could be her final postseason.
• Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot will set a new record for career assists in the postseason with three more assists. Sue Bird currently holds the record (362).
• Fever guard Caitlin Clark makes her postseason debut after leading Indiana back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
• The Lynx and Storm enter the playoffs with the same number of championships among active WNBA franchises, four each.

Required reading

(Photo: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)