RIO DE JANEIRO -- With the Olympics behind it, the WNBA is ready to restart its season after a monthlong break.There should be quite the sprint to the finish during the leagues final weeks, starting Friday through Sept. 18.Very excited to get the back end of the season going, WNBA President Lisa Borders said. You think about the format changes, top eight teams make the playoffs, doesnt matter what your geography is, it matters what your record is.Only 4 1-2 games separate fourth place and 11th after the league changed its playoff format this season to get rid of conferences. The top eight teams will make the playoffs.The league is very close right now and anybody can make it into the playoffs or get kicked out at this point, Chicago Sky star Elena Delle Donne said. Every game is do or die.Phoenix, which had nearly half its team go to Rio, has been the biggest disappointment this season. Picked in preseason by the leagues general managers to win the title, the Mercury sit at 10-14 in seventh place.The WNBA season is very tricky, especially with the Olympic break, Diana Taurasi said. If we can start building momentum and playing good basketball, we have championship-caliber talent. We just need to start playing like it.Los Angeles and Minnesota have already clinched playoff spots and likely will be the top two seeds, earning byes into the semifinals. The Sparks had plenty of time to rest during the last month as none of their players made the Olympic team.Not the case for Minnesota, which had coach Cheryl Reeve and stars Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles all playing for the gold medal-winning team.Reeve isnt worried about the impact of the Olympics on her core four.They would have been playing anywhere whether it was here or there, she said. The domestic stuff was pretty challenging on their time and their bodies. Once we got to Rio and settled on the (cruise) ship and got a little more of a rhythm and downtime. ... Genos done a great job managing their bodies. Well continue down that path.Here are a few other things to watch as the WNBA gets back underway on Friday:RETURNING FROM INJURY: New York sits in third place and should get a boost from the return of Epiphanny Prince, who missed the first 26 games while recovering from an ACL injury . Coach Bill Laimbeer expects her to be ready come playoff time.FAREWELL: Tamika Catchings won her fourth gold medal and winds down her playing career in Indiana. Shes not the only person retiring at the end of the season. Penny Taylor also announced this is her last year playing professionally . Swin Cash announced her retirement in the middle of the season, effective at the end of this year. San Antonio coach Dan Hughes said before the season it would be his final one on the bench.POWER POLL: The AP power poll will return on Tuesday. The previous poll order before the break: Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, Connecticut, Dallas, Washington and San Antonio.SUPER 20: The WNBA is celebrating its 20th season and the remaining weeks of the regular season with a new ad and sweepstakes through Sept. 18. The league is offering any fan who buys a ticket entry into a sweepstakes to attend next years WNBA All-Star game or the NBA All-Star game or a cash prize.There will be one winner selected for each All-Star game, and the package includes two tickets, transportation and accommodations.With all the interest coming out of the Olympics and our womens national team, with their sixth consecutive gold medal, we really wanted to do something special for our fans and create something that would say thank you to our core fans, WNBA chief operating officer Jay Parry said. And also introduce the WNBA to casual fans and give them a reason to come to a WNBA game as we race towards the playoffs.---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Wholesale Jerseys China . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. http://www.wholesalenfljerseysforcheapauthentic.com/ . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Cheap NFL Jerseys .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Authentic . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. CHICAGO -- Joe Maddon could make light of his latest ejection, saying he got in a workout and snacked on some buttered raisin bread after he got tossed.On a day when the Cubs lost again, their manager found at least a few positives.John Lackeys winless streak stretched to five starts, Maddon was ejected and the Cincinnati Reds beat struggling Chicago 9-5 on Tuesday behind Zack Cozarts 13th home run.Lackey (7-5) allowed six runs -- five earned -- six hits and five walks in six innings, dropping to 0-3 in his past five starts. The Cubs have lost five of their last six games and 10 of 15.Maddon was ejected for the second time this season. David Ross was batting in the second, took a 3-0 pitch and started heading to first, only for plate umpire Jerry Meals to call a strike. Maddon got tossed by Meals as he protested from the dugout, then came out for a spirited argument that lasted a few more minutes.It was pretty much the culmination of other calls that were going against us recently at the plate, he said. I think it kind of boiled over in that moment. I havent had a day off in a while.Joey Votto added two RBI and Jay Bruce homered as the Reds beat the Cubs for the second time in 12 games this season after nearly blowing a 5-0 lead. Cincinnati won for just the third time in 14 games overall.Cozart doubled and scored in the fourth. He also went deep in Mondays loss.Everybody wants to beat the Cubs, said Billy Hamilton, who had two hits and scored two runs. Theyre the best team in baseball. We know we can beat those guys. This was a big day for us.Kris Bryant hit his major league-leading 25th home run for Chicago. Addison Russell went deep twice, giving him giving him three homers in the past two games. Javier Baez also connected against Brandon Finnegan (4-7).Finnegan gave up five runs and five hits in five innings,, including four homers that matched Jon Moscots season-high for Cincinnati at Colorado on May 31.dddddddddddd He had lasted a career-low 2 1/3 innings against Washington in his previous start.Bryant, Baez and Russell each connected in a four-run third. Russell added a solo drive in the fifth that cut it to 6-5.Votto made it a two-run game with an RBI double off Travis Wood in the seventh and Bruce bumped the lead to 9-5 with a two-run drive against Pedro Strop in the ninth.Raisel Iglesias pitched two-hit ball over three scoreless innings in relief for Cincinnati. Suburban Chicago product Tony Cingrani, celebrating his 27th birthday, worked the ninth.BRUCE GOES DEEPBruce became the 14th major leaguer to hit at least 18 homers in each of his first nine seasons.TRAINERS ROOMReds: Reliever Jumbo Diaz was available after getting a day off because of a sore right ankle. The right-hander was struck by a line drive at Washington on Sunday.Cubs: Bryant, who started at third base, was still a little sore following Mondays outfield collision with CF Albert Almora Jr. He bruised his lower left leg while making a catch in left in the fifth when Almora ran into him, and he left in the bottom half. Bryant acknowledged the season-ending knee injury Kyle Schwarber sustained in a collision playing left field in early April crossed his mind. Anytime its with the knee and it goes the way its not supposed to go, its scary, he said. Sitting there on the ground, it looked straight to me so I was like, `Maybe its not too bad.UP NEXTRHP Adam Warren (3-1, 4.56 ERA) is to make a spot start for Chicago after getting stretched out in the minors while RHP Anthony DeSclafani (2-0, 1.78) is to pitch for Cincinnati. China Jerseys Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL T-shirts Camo China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys China NFL Hoodies ' ' '