Hello, hoopheads! If you’re not a tennis lover like myself, I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Vitas Gerulaitis. If you have heard of him, however, I am almost certain you’re familiar with the Brooklyn-born “Lithuanian Lion”’s famous proclamation that “nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row” after snapping a 16-match losing streak against his longtime rival Jimmy Connors. Despite the fact that Gerulaitis said that four years before I was born, I couldn’t help but think of him last night as the Golden State Valkyries (26-11) let it be known that nobody beats them 10 times in a row when they finally got their first win against the Minnesota Lynx (31-8) in franchise history. It looked, for a brief period at the start, like the game was going to be a repeat of last week’s 77-66 Lynx win at Ballhalla, as Minnesota jumped out to an 8-0 and looked to be in control as the Valkyries struggled through an 0-for-7 start from beyond the arc. Unfortunately for Minnesota, longball-dependent Golden State lived by the three on this occasion, as the Valks went 12-for-26 (46.2%) after the 0-for-7 start. Cecilia Zandalasini led the way with 18 points, but she was 2-for-8 (25%) from deep while Veronica Valkyrie (Burton) (14 points, 2-for-4), Gabby Williams (15, 3-for-8), Tiffany Hayes (14, 2-for-3) and Janelle Salaün (12, 2-for-5) each joined her in scoring at least a dozen points while combining to go 9-for-20 (45%) from beyond the arc. Those five players also combined for 11 of Golden State’s 12 steals on the night, led by V2 (Burton)’s five thefts while she had 4 rebounds, 9 assists and just 1 turnover.
All of that proved more than enough to not just overtake but pull away from Minnesota on a night when the Lynx turned the ball over 17 times against just 6 giveaways for Golden State. The turnover problems likely had something to do with the absence of Courtney Williams, who not only seems to particularly love antagonizing the Valkyries and their fans, but gives the team a second All-Star caliber point guard in the backcourt who can serve as a safety valve for Olivia Miles (and vice versa) in the face of Golden State’s intense defensive pressure. Miles had one of her most forgettable games so far as a pro, finishing with 8 points on 3-for-12 (25%) from the field with 4 of the Lynx’s turnovers to go with her 5 assists. In fairness to Miles, and as a testament to Golden State’s championship-caliber defense, the Lynx’s top-billed veteran stars also struggled from the field, which probably suppressed the Rookie of the Year’s assist total a bit. Kayla McBride scored 12 points on 2-for-11 (22.2%) from the field while Napheesa Collier had 9 points on 4-for-10 (40%, which is a struggle by her lofty standards). As a fan of another team that I’m trying to convince myself still has a chance, I’d be lying by omission if I didn’t say it was a bit refreshing to see the Lynx look human for a change.
While the win prevented Minnesota from clinching the No. 1 seed in the playoffs last night, I think even the Valkyries would acknowledge that it is going to happen sooner or later, because all it requires is two Minnesota wins in the final five games. That said, the win was still an important one for the Valkyries in the playoff race, because it kept them two games up on the Las Vegas Aces (26-13) in the loss column. They need to be ahead in that column at the end of the season to keep the No. 2 seed in the playoffs as a result of their 0-3 record against the Aces in the regular season. By that token, I also think the win was an important one for the Valkyries psychologically, and I think they might be a bit more hesitant to admit this part, but there simply had to be some doubt creeping into their minds as to whether they could really beat the top teams in the league. They were 1-15 against the Lynx and Aces in their brief history going into last night, with the only other win a blowout of Las Vegas last June in their first meeting. Golden State will now head into the postseason armed with the knowledge that it can go into the league’s best team’s arena and hold them under 20 points in all four quarters in a 14-point win, and into the final seven games of the regular season knowing that it most likely doesn’t have to deal with either the Lynx or Aces again until the semifinals. The two-loss cushion over the Aces could also allow Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase to give some of her players either lighter workloads or entire nights off during a back-to-back on Wednesday (at Connecticut, finishing its own back-to-back) and Thursday (at New York, coming off of four days rest), especially given that the Valkyries still have a trip all the way back out to Portland before wrapping up a stretch of seven games in 14 days heading into the World Cup break. Perhaps I’m thinking wishfully as a Liberty fan, but with Thursday being the Valkyries’ last regular-season game against a playoff team and 6-1 the rest of the way being good enough to guarantee the No. 2 seed, it’s not exactly a must-win game for Golden State amidst a pretty grueling stretch of schedule.
Tonight’s three-game slate features two playoff teams in action, and they aren’t playing each other, which has made for near-automatic wins for the playoff-bound lately. They’ve won six straight in these scenarios since Chicago Sky sprung a pair of upsets last week, and 51 of 57 (a .895 win percentage) against non-playoff teams since the start of play on July 13. As such, I’m going to preview tonight’s games pretty quickly to give myself a bit of a break after putting out a newsletter for 29 straight days get myself back to Marvel Snap’s new draft mode as quickly as possible. The first of the games featuring playoff teams tonight sees the Portland Fire (15-22) visit the Dallas Wings (22-16) (8:00 ET, NBA TV/ local affiliates), who are looking for a third straight win overall while trying to improve to 2-0 in a string of six straight games against non-playoff teams to close the regular season. The two wins also coincide with the start of a six-game homestand spanning the World Cup break, with the latest seeing Dallas thump the Seattle Storm 92-70 on Sunday behind 32 points from Paige Bueckers.
The Fire are trying to avoid a third straight loss, and if they can’t do so, the playoff field could officially be set tonight as a 23rd loss would guarantee the Fire can’t finish above .500, while the Washington Mystics (22-15) visit the Phoenix Mercury (13-24) (10:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass) with a chance to clinch a winning season. They’d be the eighth team to do so, assuming a Dallas win earlier in the night, and that would be that. The Mystics are also looking to remain tied with the Liberty in the loss column as everyone tries not to be stuck facing Minnesota in the first round, although Washington will need to finish ahead of New York to overcome the head-to-head tiebreaker. This is the first of two games in three days between the Mystics and Mercury, and also Phoenix’s first game since agreeing to a contract buyout with future Hall of Famer DeWanna Bonner, who will be exposed to waivers but hopes to join a contending team for a possible final postseason run. I don’t know just how strictly she’s defining “contender” or how willing she is to refuse to play for a lower-end playoff team, but if I was Washington I would force her to say no, because I think her wisdom alone would be immensely valuable to the young Mystics over the next several weeks (and she’s not washed up as a hooper either). If nothing else, it would be very easy for DB to report to her new team if she ends up with the Mystics, since they’ll be in Phoenix through Thursday.
Rounding out the schedule are the Chicago Sky (15-23) and Connecticut Sun (9-27) (7:00 ET, local affiliates/League Pass). Arike Ogunbowale holds the record for the most points scored by a rookie in a road game at Connecticut, having dropped 32 on the Sun’s heads back in 2019. I bring this up because I hope Sydney Taylor goes out and breaks that record tonight while the Sky add another miserable chapter to the lowly and detestable Sun’s slow march to the grave (or to Houston, depending on how you choose to look at it).