Who's in, who's out: Opals' playoff picture as Cup looms

• Jade Melbourne says Seattle's three-big starting line-up has had only limited time together
• Alanna Smith's Dallas Wings thrashed Melbourne and Ezi Magbegor's Storm 92-70
• Australia's WNBA Opals have only days remaining before flying to Germany for the World Cup

Australian Opals starters Jade Melbourne and Ezi Magbegor are already eliminated from the 2026 WNBA Playoffs, but their Seattle Storm could still play spoiler before and after the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin next month.

Fellow Opals starter Alanna Smith’s (22-16) Dallas Wings handed the (7-31) Storm a 92-70 beatdown today as Seattle experimented with a new starting line-up including Magbegor (1.93m), Dominique Malonga (1.98m) and Awa Fam (1.93m). Melbourne started at point guard.

But it didn’t work as the Wings blew it open in the first quarter – 34-17.

“Definitely some growing pains,” Melbourne admitted.

“That lineup's been run out twice, and practice maybe a few – a handful of times at practice as well.

“So it's definitely something that we're gonna continue to work on.

“There's moments where there's two bigs running to the paint. There's moments where they're all spread out because someone thinks this next person's gonna do it.

“There's different schemes on defence and I think the thing with Dallas as well is they start with a three-big lineup as well.

“So kind of, it was just kind of an even game plan at the end.

“We couldn't really use it as much to our advantage as we'd like to.

“Definitely growing pains, growing pains. But it's a scary – it's a scary lineup when it works.”

The Opals head to Germany on September 1 to prepare for their first FIBA Women’s World Cup clash against Puerto Rico on September 4.

Despite being eliminated ahead of the WNBA FIBA Break, Melbourne said the Storm would continue to grind.

“Continuing to go at it, continuing to get the reps at practice, continuing to get the in-game reps and, you know, use that to our advantage,” he said.

“And something that, you know, we can roll out more and more.”

“For us it came down to communication,” Melbourne said.

“Like, we were talking, but just not early enough or maybe assertively enough.

“So that's something that, you know, has been a bit of a common factor for us all year and something we need to continue to work on.

“But also, too, a lot of their stuff on the offensive end – I think they had 56 points in the first half – came off of mistakes that we made at the offensive end.

“So, yeah, they were able to capitalise on our turnovers and stuff like that.

“We just know we need to come out better on the front foot. We can't give up an 11-0 start. And, yeah, as a group we just need to regroup, focus on our communication, clean up how we look after the ball and come out better the next game.

Opals captain Sami Whitcomb, 38, has three games left before the World Cup, and none of them matter because Phoenix are out, and the two Opals in Seattle have only two.

Phoenix are 13-24 and eliminated. Whitcomb has Washington twice and Toronto before the WNBA breaks on August 31, and Magbegor and Melbourne have Toronto and Los Angeles.

Then they fly.

That matters more than a dead rubber usually would, because of how little time Brondello gets with them once they land.

There is a neat symmetry in the fixtures because Brondello's own Toronto side, 11-26 and eliminated in their expansion year, plays Seattle on August 27, Las Vegas on August 29, and Phoenix on August 30. Those are the last three games she takes before the break, and they are against clubs carrying four of her own twelve: Magbegor and Melbourne, then Talbot, then Whitcomb.

The rest of the squad has had a better time of it. Six of the seven teams that have clinched a playoff place carry an Australian: Chloe Bibby at Minnesota, who are 31-7 and the best team in the league, Miela Sowah at Golden State, Stephanie Talbot at Las Vegas, Isobel Borlase at Atlanta, Georgia Amoore at Washington, and Rebecca Allen and Anneli Maley at a New York side that has already won the Commissioner's Cup.

One place is still open, and there is an Australian on each side of it. Dallas sit eighth at 22-16 and have not clinched; Portland sit ninth at 15-22 and are not yet eliminated, and they are the only two teams in the league whose seasons remain undecided. They belong to Alanna Smith and to Nyadiew Puoch, who is not in the World Cup squad.

So the Opals arrive in Berlin split three ways: five players still chasing something, three with nothing left to chase, and Smith carrying the only race in the league that still has an Australian in it.