Atlanta Dream clinches its sixth consecutive playoff berth

From the Dream:

The Atlanta Dream will defend its Eastern Conference Championship as the team has clinched its sixth consecutive playoff berth in the franchise’s seven-year history. A loss by Indiana late Saturday night in Phoenix meant the first-place Dream became the first team in the East to secure a spot in the playoffs this season.

With eight games remaining in the regular season, Atlanta currently leads the Eastern Conference by 4.5 games with a record of 17-9. The Dream, which won Eastern Conference Championships in 2010, 2011 and 2013, is battling to secure the East’s No. 1 seed for the first time in team history. Atlanta can get one step closer to that goal when it hosts New York on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in the team’s annual “Dream Pink” game in support of Breast Health Awareness.

Atlanta is currently the only team in the WNBA to have qualified for the playoffs in each of the past six seasons. Indiana, which ranks third in the East, and Seattle, the West’s last-place team, are the only other teams that could still join the Dream for that distinction.

The 2014 WNBA playoffs tip off Thursday, Aug. 21. The conference semifinals and conference finals are each best-of-three series. Series are played in a 1-1-1 format, with the team with home-court advantage (better record) hosting games 1 and 3, and their opponents hosting game 2.

The WNBA Finals is a best-of-five series played in a 2-2-1 format, with the team with home-court advantage hosting games 1, 2, and 5 while its opponent hosts games 3 and 4.