A high-powered offense collides with a stingy defense when the Dallas Wings and Golden State Valkyries complete Commissioner’s Cup pool play Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Both teams still have a chance to tie for first place in the Western Conference competition for one spot in the tournament finals. However, the Wings (9-5, 4-2) almost surely would lose a point-differential tiebreaker to the Minnesota Lynx while the Valkyries (9-5, 4-2) have been beaten by both teams ahead of them — the Lynx and Las Vegas Aces — and thus would lose a tiebreaker because of head-to-head results.
That shouldn’t prevent the game from being entertaining. It matches a Dallas team coming off a 96-66 shellacking of the defending champion Aces against a Golden State club that was at its defensive best in its last outing, a 78-58 romp over the Los Angeles Sparks.
The teams have not met this season and won’t meet again until August.
The Valkyries thus have never seen the Wings with top draft pick Azzi Fudd and free agent addition Jessica Shepard in the lineup. They have provided star-power depth behind the franchise’s two marquee players, Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale.
That foursome combined for 66 points, 24 rebounds and 24 assists in the win over Las Vegas on Monday.
“I think we know how good we can be, how good we’re capable of being,” Fudd said of a team that started 3-3 but has since gone 6-2. “You’ve seen glimpses of that. To kind of have a taste of that definitely motivates everyone.”
While the Wings have averaged 88.0 points in their last three games, the Valkyries have held opponents below 80 in seven of their 14 games this season. The 58-point total by the Sparks on Monday was the lowest for a Golden State opponent this year.
The Valkyries not only smothered the Sparks on the perimeter — allowing just 3-for-21 shooting from beyond the arc — they mixed in 13 steals and four blocks.
“Very happy,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said after the win. “This is kind of the team that I envisioned, with that type of defensive tenacity. Picking up 94 feet, having that energy, maximizing their energy. There was nothing left in the tank. Our players really played with max effort, and that’s what I like to see.”
Eight Golden State players contributed to the steals total, led by Kayla Thornton with four.
–Field Level Media
