Updated 2026 WNBA Playoffs Bracket Picture and Standings After Sonia Citron, Mystics Clinch Berth

The Washington Mystics earned their first WNBA playoff berth since 2023 with Sunday's win over the Portland Fire paired with a loss from the Chicago Sky.

Washington is on pace to secure the No. 7 seed, sitting at 22-15.

2026 WNBA Standings

1. Minnesota Lynx (31-7); clinched

2. Golden State Valkyries (25-11); clinched

3. Las Vegas Aces (26-13); clinched

4. Atlanta Dream (24-13); clinched

5. Indiana Fever (25-14); clinched

6. New York Liberty (23-15); clinched

7. Washington Mystics (22-15); clinched

8. Dallas Wings (22-16)

9. Portland Fire (15-22)

10. Chicago Sky (15-23); eliminated

11. Los Angeles Sparks (13-24); eliminated

12. Phoenix Mercury (13-24); eliminated

13. Toronto Tempo (11-26); eliminated

14. Connecticut Sun (9-27); eliminated

15. Seattle Storm (7-31); eliminated

The Mystics lost 28 games and finished seven back of the eighth-place Golden State Valkyries in 2025. The general vibes around the organization were not those of a team that was well outside of the postseason hunt, though.

That's because Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen both made the All-Star team as rookies, and the 2026 WNBA draft promised to bring more reinforcements for a young core.

Citron is averaging more points (16.9) and assists (4.1) than she did last year, and Iriafen has seen a bump to her scoring (15.1) and rebounds (9.3). Both are taking steps forward in their development.

Shakira Austin, meanwhile, has expanded her offensive repertoire. Seventeed made three-pointers may not seem like a lot, but they are for a player who knocked down three total threes through her first four seasons.

Depth behind the starting rotation has come from 2026 first-rounders Lauren Betts and Cotie McMahon. Georgia Amoore, who missed her entire rookie campaign through injury, is second on the team in assists (3.5).

Ironically, the 25-year-old Amoore is one of the oldest players.

Washington is bucking almost every historic precedent. Teams with rosters this young have by and large been very, very bad.

Even when accounting for the fact the WNBA has diluted the talent pool a bit through expansion, putting together a winning record when only three players on the roster have more than one year of service time is incredible.

For right now, the Mystics are playing with house money because they're ahead of schedule in their rebuild. Winning a series would be nice, but simply having Citron, Iriafen, Betts and McMahon taste playoff basketball is important in its own right.

The postseason could also be instructive to the coaching staff and front office toward how to continue building around Citron and Iriafen.