The good news is it’s after midnight and I’ve got new Maisie Peters and Bleachers albums to obsess over. The bad news is the Liberty sure did suck tonight. Here’s what went down in the WNBA on Thursday:
Golden State Valkyries 87, New York Liberty 70
With all due respect to the victorious Valkyries, I’m starting with the lifeless Liberty, because I’m a Liberty fan and I also think that tonight’s game was more about them than their opponent. Not to take anything away from the Valkyries, because if you’ve read my writing or posts about them over the last two years you know I think the world of that team, but the Liberty looked a hell of a lot like the team that limped through the second half of last season tonight. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt, because it was game five of 44, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was out due to personal reasons, joining Sabrina Ionescu, Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera, and Liberty debutante Satou Sabally was playing her first game since last year’s WNBA Finals. Still, there was just a lot of standing around at both ends of the floor, and seemingly a lot of reacting when players should have been anticipating. Whatever the problem, it’s never a good thing when a tunnel fit is the highlight of a WNBA team’s first home game in two weeks, and unfortunately the only thing I want to remember last night is The Unicorn’s arrival with her stunning new hairdo.
As for the Valkyries, they returned from their eight-day layoff playing the steady, grinding style that has become their hallmark, led by 16 points from Gabby Williams and a 13-for-35 effort from downtown as a team — more than enough 3-pointers to bury the Libs given their own toothlessness (6-for-24 from beyond the arc) in the face of Golden State’s withering defense. Veronica Valkyrie (Burton) and Kaila Charles each added 13 points, the former doing so along with 7 assists and just 1 turnover while the latter had 7 rebounds. One more thing that I will say about the Valkyries is that head coach Natalie Nakase has to stop pretending that her team really wants to play fast given it currently ranks 15th in the WNBA averaging 78.3 possessions per 40 minutes so far this season after finishing in the same position last year with a mark of 78.2 possessions per 40. This team plays slower than any other in the league and I will not be gaslit!
Los Angeles Sparks 97, Phoenix Mercury 88
The Sparks won for the second time in three games after an 0-2 start, and took their road opener following a 1-3 opening homestand, but this once again feels like it’s more about the losers, who weren’t really in the game after the second quarter despite the single-digit final margin. Phoenix fell to 1-4 since blasting the Las Vegas Aces on their ring day, finishing their own four-game homestand with a 1-3 record before heading on a three-game trip including a stop in Atlanta and two games in Brooklyn next week. The common thread in all three losses has been a complete absence of the defense that carried Phoenix to last year’s WNBA Finals, and there are definitely those who believe that the Mercury’s defensive struggles and that Finals run are direct results of the differences in officiating between last season and this one. Perhaps it’s true that the Mercury are playing bad defense (10th in defensive rating according to Her Hoop Stats) because they can’t be as physical, but if that’s the case, it isn’t resulting in them racking up foul calls (they have the second-lowest foul rate in the league according to HHS). Perhaps they’re overcompensating for the tighter officiating by being passive, perhaps it’s just a new team that isn’t as good at defense, but either way, giving up offensive ratings of 108.6 points per 100 possessions or better in 60% of your games isn’t a great formula.
Dearica Hamby led the Sparks with 27 points and 15 rebounds, the first 25/15 game of her career and her first double-double this season. Kelsey Plum had 16 points and 7 assists while going 4-for-10 from deep to lead a Sparks long-range attack which went 15-for-32 compared to Phoenix’s 8-for-25 effort. The next stop on LA’s road trip will probably see the opponent put up a bit more resistance, as they visit Sin City and the reigning WNBA champs Saturday night on CBS.
Minnesota Lynx 100, Toronto Tempo 72
The Lynx jumped out to a 27-14 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, routing the Toronto Tempo to drop Canada’s team to 3-3 and earn their first home win of the season. Maya Caldwell led the way with 16 points off the bench while the four starters who’ve been carrying the bulk of the load so far (Natasha Howard, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams and Olivia Miles) all scored in the 13-to-15-point range. It was really just your typical, efficient Lynx home win, and I still think this is a team that will be very dangerous come playoff time as long as Napheesa Collier is on the floor and playing at something resembling the level she played at over the last two seasons.