SAN FRANCISCO — Veronica Burton hadn’t hit a shot all game. In fact, the last shot she made had been at 4:22 of the second quarter of Game 1. She didn’t play most of the second half of Game 1, and the Valkyries didn’t need her to in the 71-60 win over Las Vegas.
But the Aces were coming back in Game 2 after trailing by 16. And despite being without a field goal for 47:27 of game time, Gabby Williams dished the ball to Burton on the left wing, more and more open as A’ja Wilson slid to her right to try to cut off Williams.
Burton fired from 28 feet. The crowd, deafening all evening, was silent for a moment.
Then it was as loud as it’s ever been.
“I think I held my breath the whole time the ball was in the air,” Tiffany Hayes said.
Golden State went up 79-76 moments after surrendering their lead for the first time since it was 18-17 in Game 1. And Burton, who has made two shots the entire series, sent the Valkyries to a 2-0 series lead on the defending champions in the second season of franchise history.
“V knows she’s amazing,” Hayes said. “She was kind of trying to find her way in the game a little bit, and that composure, to keep her head in the game and hit that big shot, it was a huge shot.”
Burton sat nearly the entire second half of Game 1, and speculation on whether she was injured ran rampant. She was, head coach Natalie Nakase said, just tired. Kaitlyn Chen had fresh legs, and the Valkyries were maintaining a lead. The starting point guard played just 18 minutes, and the Valkyries survived.
With their lead on the line, though, Nakase went to Burton, two days rested and still the heartbeat of the Valkyries.
“Obviously, their backs are against the wall,” Burton said of taking on the Aces. “They’re the reigning champs. They have experience, so it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a battle, and we’re going to approach it as such.”
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Burton, though, does much more than score. She is Golden State’s top defender on the perimeter, and is therefore tasked with holding Chelsea Gray down. She hasn’t rebounded much in this series, but it’s an area where the Valkyries ask for than is expected of most point guards.
When the ball found her hands with the clock ticking down, though, there was no doubt. This was her game to win on her shot.
“I had to do something up there,” Burton said. “So I appreciate Gabby trusting me in that moment. Obviously a big moment. Gabby, we trust her with the ball in her hands as well. So for her to pass the ball to me not once, but twice in that possession. I didn’t shoot the first one, the second one I knew had to go up.”
Golden State has relied on Williams this entire postseason run, as their star who helped seal the series win against Dallas and who dominated Game 1 against Las Vegas. Throughout the season, Nakase has gone to different closing lineups. On Wednesday, it was the starters plus Hayes in place of Cecilia Zandalasini.
Burton was also there, despite not getting that chance in Game 1.
“We have multiple closers. That goes back to our strength in numbers,” Nakase explained. “It’s so valuable when you have multiple people who can score on any given night.”
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An Aces win would have sent Las Vegas back home with a tied series and a chance to go ahead, and perhaps even win the series on home court. Now, their best case is to win both home games for a chance to win a decisive Game 5 at Ballhalla.
Burton made sure of it. Of course she did.
“That shows you her leadership and her still keeping her head in the game, even though everything wasn’t going her way,” Hayes said. “But right when we needed her, she was there.”
