Every 1997 WNBA race charted day by day: East and West. Final standings, from a season that ran June 21 to August 24, 1997.
NBA.com's WNBA statistics files the Houston Comets in the West this season. They played the league's first season in the East and moved to the West in 1998, so this chart shows the 1997 races as they were.
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East standings, 1997
Team
W
L
Pct
GB
L10
Streak
Houston Comets (HOU)p
18
10
.643
-
7-3
L2
New York Liberty (NYL)x
17
11
.607
1
3-7
W1
Charlotte Sting (CHA)x
15
13
.536
3
5-5
W1
Cleveland Rockers (CLE)
15
13
.536
3
5-5
L1
The dashed line on the chart is the pace of the final playoff spot.
Clinch key
x
clinched a playoff place
p
clinched the top seed
Turning points
The lead changed hands 3 times.
The Houston Comets trailed by as many as 3.5 games on July 17, 1997.
The Houston Comets took first place for good on August 17, 1997.
The Cleveland Rockers won 8 games in a row from July 17, 1997 to August 2, 1997, the longest run of the race.
The New York Liberty led by 3.5 games as late as August 4, 1997.
The Houston Comets went 7-1 from August 5, 1997 to August 20, 1997, turning a deficit of 3.5 games into a lead of 2 games.
The top two ended the day within one game of each other on 17 of the 54 days played.
The New York Liberty held first place for 52 straight days, the season's longest run.
The Houston Comets spent 16 of the season's 65 charted days in first place.