The only race to be decided in the WNBA's final weekend is for third place in the Eastern Conference, and the Indiana Fever still have the inside track despite their recent struggles.
The Fever could secure that spot with a win over the Atlanta Dream on Friday night and some help.
Indiana (18-14) has a one-game lead over Washington for the third spot in the East and the chance to face Chicago in the opening round of the playoffs instead of league-best New York.
The Fever haven't bolstered their hopes by losing five of six, including a 76-72 overtime defeat to Washington on Tuesday. The loss gave the Mystics the head-to-head tiebreaker and was Indiana's season-high third straight on the road.
"It was a tough loss," said guard Layshia Clarendon, who had a team-best 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. "It felt like we had chances to put them away multiple times, and we just didn't. We wasted opportunities."
The Fever fell 90-84 at home to Atlanta on Aug. 28 during their slump but have won the past three road games in the series. They took a 90-79 win in their only other visit this season June 16.
Another victory in Atlanta on Friday and a Washington loss in New York would give Indiana the No. 3 spot in the East.
The Dream (14-18) are set to miss the playoff for the first time since going 4-30 in their inaugural 2008 campaign but don't appear content to play out the string. They've won five of seven and earned their fourth victory in five home games Wednesday by routing a short-handed Los Angeles 90-60.
Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points to help coach Michael Cooper become the league's fifth coach with 200 career wins.
McCoughtry is averaging 24.8 points on 52.2 percent shooting in her last four games, but had 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting in Indiana last month before leaving in the third quarter. Tiffany Hayes picked up her slack with a career-high 28 points.
Atlanta forward DeLisha Milton-Jones would become the league's first player to appear in 500 games if she returns from a concussion that's kept her out of the past two. Milton-Jones, who will turn 41 on Friday, surpassed Tina Thompson for the WNBA's all-time mark in the win over Indiana.
