AS THE WNBA heads into its final week before the World Cup break, the post-season picture is becoming clearer.

Seven teams have already clinched spots in the play-offs, with Minnesota, Golden State and Las Vegas leading the way. Atlanta, Indiana, New York and Washington will also feature in the post-season. Dallas is not far from sealing the eighth and final place.

Where those teams end up seeding-wise is still up for grabs. 

The top-four teams will have home-court advantage in the opening round of the best-of-three play-off series. The semi-finals are best-of-five and the WNBA Finals are best-of-seven.

Teams will take a break for the World Cup from August 31 to September 17.

The Indiana Fever are currently in fifth place and coming off a brutal stretch which had them going up and down the US with road games in Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Toronto and Chicago. They came away with a 3-2 mark.

“Every game already feels like a play-off game,” Fever coach Stephanie White said before her team lost to New York on Saturday night.

Indiana closes out the season with three of its last five games at home, including a home-and-home set with Minnesota to finish out the regular season.

Parting ways

The Phoenix Mercury bought out DeWanna Bonner’s contract to allow the 17-year veteran a chance to play for a contending team.

“Being able to return to Phoenix and play in front of the best fans in the WNBA these past two seasons has been an incredible experience,” Bonner said. “At this stage of my career, I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m grateful to the Mercury for giving me the opportunity to play in what could be one of my final post-season opportunities.”

The Mercury made the WNBA finals last season, but were eliminated from play-off contention last week.

Mascot reveals

Expansion franchises Portland and Toronto revealed their mascots last week. The Fire have a dragon named Rose and the Tempo have a tortoise named Dez and a hare called Dot.

Player of the week

Angel Reese was the AP player of the week. Atlanta’s star forward averaged 24 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.7 steals to help the Dream win all three of its games last week. Other players receiving votes were Shakira Austin of Washington, Paige Bueckers of Dallas and Olivia Miles of Minnesota.

Game of the week

Minnesota at Atlanta, Sunday. Two of the top teams in the league will square off to close out the pre-World Cup schedule. The Lynx are in a good spot to clinch home-court throughout the play-offs this week. The Dream are in the mix to potentially still earn at least home-court in the opening round of the play-offs.