SAN FRANCISCO — Could Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase bring herself to be fully satisfied about the Valkyries’ first-ever WNBA playoff win, a statement-making 104-80 victory over the Dallas Wings, a record-setting game they led at one-point by 36 points in front of their rapturous Ballhalla crowd, a game that clearly establishes Golden State as true title contenders?
“No,” Nakase said. “”But we’re getting there.”
Let’s talk takeaways.
Taking offense
For a team with a defensive identity, there was an awful lot of scoring happening on the Golden State side Sunday night, a franchise record 104 points, to be exact. The Valkyries put on a long-distance show with 18 3-pointers (by nine different players), matching a franchise record. Golden State became the first team in WNBA postseason history with six players with multiple three-pointers.
Three players – Cecilia Zandalasini (22 points in 16 minutes), Gabby Williams (27 points) and Tiffany Hayes (21 points) all with 20-plus point games for the first time in team history.
“We were sharing the ball, moving the ball,” WIlliams said. “But it does go back to our defense, though. I do think our defense was so good, it got our offensive going.”
Williams said she saw more patience from the Golden State offense than in previous games. Nakase agreed. The Valkyries are finding more balance and more discipline in their spacing and making opposing teams shift to give them open shots.
“Our goal was to make sure that we maintained great spacing,” Nakase said. “And then we picked certain routes or certain matchups that we like to attack. Gabby is correct. We are growing in our patience.”
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The Tip of the spear
Hayes missed the Valkyries playoff appearance last season, on the bench with injury. She had some making up to do. Her first-quarter performance of seven points off the bench (she would end up with 15 of her 21 in the first half) was the catalyst for Golden State’s ability to quickly put Dallas at arm’s reach.
“She’s unguardable,” Williams said of Hayes. “Just watching her get going, we all feed off of her.”
Nakase said that Hayes is “hungry” to win a championship with this team that she has helped to build. It’s something they’ve talked about.
“This is (run) not only for Ballhalla, but it’s for the players that came back out of retirement for us,” Nakase said. “After every game it’s on to the next, but we really want to do it for someone like Tip who has committed herself to us, and to the community.”
Another second quarter surge
Up 21-20 to start the second quarter, the Valkryies exploded, scoring 37 points – the highest scoring quarter in the franchise’s two-year history – to Dallas’ 11. It’s a familiar scenario for the Wings. In their first matchup of the season, Golden State outscored them 27-7. In their third matchup, the second-quarter margin was 24-9. In four games, the Valkyries have outscored Dallas 106-42 in the second.
“A 37-point quarter is insane work and it was us just not sticking to our gameplan,” said Wings star guard Paige Bueckers. “We couldn’t get stops and they got whatever they wanted offensively.
“We’ve been a team that has a bad habit of letting made or missed shots dictate how hard we play on the defensive end and this is the playoffs, so that is really unacceptable.”
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Home court advantage
The easiest thing to predict in this entire series would be that Ballhalla was going to show up and show out for this team. The Valkryies’ home gym was vibrating from beginning to end, even after the Valkyries built an insurmountable second-half lead.
Last year, Golden State played their lone playoff game 40-seomthing miles down the freeway in San José. So Sunday’s game represented the first playoff game at Chase Center for the franchise, and it lived up to the billing.
“It’s tough to play here,” Bueckers said. “But as a competitor you kind of love that and you want to embrace that environment.”
Assuming nothing
While Dallas had won seven of eight heading into the playoffs to nail down the No. 7 seed, The Valkyries knew coming into this game there were 3-0 against the Wings this season and six in a row overall. Professional athletes or not, that’s the kind of thing that might creep into your head. Nakase said that veteran forward Kiah Stokes addressed it head-on with her teammates, so the head coach didn’t need to.
“I’m lucky to have veterans who have won (championships),” Nakase said. “More importantly, our players know what’s under our control. We control our fight, we control our energy. Nothing carries over. It’s 0-0.”
And the Valkyries played exactly that way. Under control from the tip and in control for the final three quarters, winning this game by the widest margin of any matchup against Dallas so far over the last two years.
Turning (back) the Paige
In three previous games, Golden State held Bueckers, the Wings star, to a total of 53 points, six rebounds and 12 assists.
In her first postseason game in the WNBA, Bueckers finished with 21 points on 9-for-10 shooting, but didn’t have nearly enough help. Bueckers would play just over 25 minutes as the margin grew.
“All of my buckets were tough,” Bueckers said. “They make it extremely hard. So nothing about tonight was easy, and their defense is their calling card.”
What it all means for Game 2
It’s not rocket science to say that Dallas is in a bad spot here. Losing to a team you haven’t beaten in your last seven games by 21 points in the opening game of a short playoff series is definitely a portend of big trouble for your postseason hopes.
Heading home where the Wings have a 16-6 record this season, Dallas will have to get more offense from Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard, who was 0-for-7 from the floor — and hope that the Valkyries’ offense looks more like it did in the final week of the regular season than it did on Sunday night.
