Finally, some more clarity about the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference. With San Antonio beating Indiana tonight and Los Angeles coming from behind to knock off Minnesota at home, the Sparks have clinched a playoff berth. The Silver Stars still have a small chance of getting bounced in favor of the Lynx, but they are actually in the best position. Here are the odds of each team finishing in each spot:

Team             3      4      5    Play
----------------------------------------
Los Angeles    .149   .851   .000  1.000
Minnesota      .000   .013   .987   .013
San Antonio    .851   .136   .013   .987

Because San Antonio owns the tie-breaker against Los Angeles, the Silver Stars are very likely to claim the third seed. However, we will not know for sure until the last day of the season either way. Meanwhile, Minnesota needs to win on Sunday at Indiana (not easy) and a lot of help to reach the postseason.

Here are the combinations of remaining outcomes that produce each possible result.

San Antonio (No. 3 seed)/Los Angeles (No. 4 seed)
Los Angeles loss, San Antonio win, Minnesota loss
Los Angeles loss, San Antonio loss, Minnesota loss
Los Angeles loss, San Antonio win, Minnesota win
Los Angeles win, San Antonio win, Minnesota loss
Los Angeles win, San Antonio win, Minnesota win

Los Angeles (No. 3 seed)/San Antonio (No. 4 seed)
Los Angeles loss, San Antonio loss, Minnesota win
Los Angeles win, San Antonio loss, Minnesota loss

Los Angeles (No. 3 seed)/Minnesota (No. 4 seed)
Los Angeles win, San Antonio loss, Minnesota win

This entry was posted on Friday, August 20th, 2010 at 10:24 pm and is filed under 2010 Playoffs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.