The league's youngest teams are making the biggest moves down the home stretch, as Atlanta and Chicago have both maneuvered into playoff position in the Eastern Conference. And with some teams down to as few as eight games remaining in the regular season, the playoff push is on, especially with just 1½ games separating the second- through fifth-place teams in the East. In the West, three games separate the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place teams. A look at this week's Power Rankings, as compiled by ESPN.com women's basketball editor Melanie Jackson (through Wednesday's games):

2009 Power Rankings: Week 11
	RANK(LW)	TEAM	RECORD	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Fever	19-5	The Fever got back on track with two straight wins this week for a six-game lead in the East. The next five opponents are West teams, including the next two on the road, at Sacramento on Thursday and at Seattle on Saturday. Then it's five straight East opponents -- one game against every other team in the division, in fact -- to wrap up the regular-season schedule.
	2 (2)	Mercury	18-8	The Mercury hold a 3½-game lead in the West. Of their remaining eight games, only three are against West foes (at Seattle and then two vs. Los Angeles). Diana Taurasi has led the team in scoring in six straight games, four of which were victories. She's 8-for-11 from downtown in her past two outings.
	3 (4)	Dream	13-11	Winners of six of their past seven games, the Dream have worked themselves into a tie for second in the East. Nobody has been better on the boards, where Atlanta leads the league with 36.8 rpg; it also ranks second in scoring at 83.1 ppg. The road to the 2-year-old franchise's first playoff berth will have to come on the road: After three straight home games, the Dream play six of their final seven on the road, where they're 4-7.
	4 (3)	Storm	14-11	Let's see if the Storm can break the pattern. Since the calendar turned, Seattle has twice suffered through a W-L-L streak. The Storm beat Detroit on Tuesday, but with Indiana up next, Seattle's chances of winning back-to-back games for the first time since before the All-Star break aren't great. The good news: Seattle's next four games are at KeyArena, where the Storm are 9-3. Is Lauren Jackson (a combined 61 points in the past two games) peaking at the right time to hold onto the West's No. 2?
	5 (5)	Sun	13-11	Will an Achilles tendon be the Sun's Achilles' heel? Asjha Jones is expected to miss two weeks to rest a sore left Achilles tendon. That absence will be a big blow, as the All-Star's team-high 16.7 ppg translate to 22 percent of the Sun offense. The schedule is somewhat accommodating. Connecticut eased into the absence with a win over New York on Wednesday, and faces New York again on the road Friday before home dates with Minnesota and Detroit. But a four-game road trip out West awaits.
	6 (8)	Sky	13-13	The Sky have dropped three games this month. Two "make sense:" at Indiana and against Phoenix. But Chicago could really help its playoff hopes Saturday by avenging its Aug. 9 loss at Detroit. The Sky, in fact, might have the most helpful schedule of all. They have only eight games left, including three dates with Detroit and two with New York, the two bottom teams in the East. Five of those games are at home, where Chicago is 9-3.
	7 (10)	Sparks	11-13	Wednesday's recap of L.A.'s win over the Lynx was all about Marie Ferdinand-Harris (all nine points in the fourth) and Candace Parker (15 points, 12 rebounds). But Lisa Leslie hit 8 of 11 shots to score at least 20 points for the third time in five games. Yes, the Sparks are only six days removed from a loss to Sacramento, but Leslie is doing everything she can to make her final season end in the postseason. A win at San Antonio on Friday would further the cause and equal four wins in a row.
	8 (7)	Silver Stars	11-13	The Silver Stars scored a big win Saturday against Phoenix after losing to the Mercury two days earlier, but they've still lost three of their past five games. Friday's home contest with the Sparks -- who share third place with the Silver Stars in the West -- is big, but San Antonio will be coming off a game in Atlanta the previous night.
	9 (6)	Mystics	12-13	The Mystics have dropped two straight (including a loss to New York) and four of their past five to drop a half-game behind Chicago for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. After losing to L.A. on Tuesday, how will three more road games against West teams help or hinder Washington's playoff hopes? The Mystics don't play an East foe again until Sept. 4.
	10 (11)	Shock	9-14	This time last week, the Shock had won two of their past three games and seemed to be making a move in the East. Now they're riding a three-game skid after losing at Atlanta, at Indiana and to Seattle. The good news is that the ball is in Detroit's hands: of their remaining 11 games, six are against teams ahead of the Shock in the East standings, including three games with Chicago.
	11 (12)	Liberty	9-16	Sunday's one-point road victory at Washington and Minnesota's own futility (the Lynx are 2-8 over their past 10 games compared to New York's 3-7 mark) is all that separates the Liberty from last week's No. 12 spot. New York, last in the East and 3½ games out of the final playoff spot, plays seven of its final nine games against East opponents.
	12 (9)	Lynx	11-14	Smells like ... 2008. For the second consecutive year, the Lynx are undoing themselves in the second half of the season. After hovering three or four games above .500 for the first six weeks of the season, they have lost seven of eight since the All-Star break. Right now, Minnesota is in fifth place in the West, but only one-half game behind San Antonio and L.A., which beat Minnesota on Wednesday.
	13 (13)	Monarchs	7-18	Anybody up for playing spoiler? Though Minnesota is collapsing ahead of them in the West to offer a glimmer of hope, the 4½-game deficit between the Monarchs and the final playoff spot in the division seems insurmountable at this point, especially with two matchups against Indiana and a three-game road trip next week.