Do or die? Valkyries win first-ever playoff series with epic comeback. Bring on the Aces!
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A do-or-die game became a do-or-die fourth quarter. Then a do-or-die final 100 seconds. A game with so much intensity that coach Natalie Nakase appeared to pass out. Fans clutched each other in agony in the stands. The players hurled themselves onto the floor to corral the ball.
Do or die. Second by agonizing second.
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And the Golden State Valkyries did. They survived. They live on.
The Valkyries prevailed in a ferocious battle with the Dallas Wings, overcoming a 16-point third quarter deficit to win 77-73. And now they take on the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, in a semifinal series that begins on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Chase Center.
"Fighting and clawing back," guard Tiffany Hayes said. "Our backs against the wall, we're gonna scratch and claw and do whatever we need to do."
This was the biggest game in the Valkyries' short history, the only real pressure they'd ever faced. A year ago they were the sweet, overachieving expansion team, who made the playoffs, battled hard but were quickly sent packing by the No. 1 seed.
Not this year. This season they came into the postseason as the No. 2 seed, one of the best teams in the league. And in a matchup against a team they had swept in the regular season, they were expected to win. Expected to advance. In Friday's Game 3, they were the highest seed remaining in the playoffs, playing at their favorable home arena, with a wide open path to making a franchise statement. They were the team under pressure to perform.
Naksase, before the game, promised that the team was "going to play the best four quarters of defense of our lives, because that's what we owe ourselves." Gabby Williams, after the high-scoring loss in Game 2, had vowed for a better effort because, "That's not us, we're not here to trade baskets … we need to get stops."
But the Valkyries came out tight. Dallas came out like a team with nothing to lose. The Valkyries couldn't make their shots. They also couldn't get stops. Though filmmaker George Lucas was in the stands, he didn't seem to bring The Force with him to the home team.
The Valkyries were down by five after one quarter, down by seven at the half. And in the third quarter the wheels started to come off, the nervous crowd tightened up and the Wings went on a 20-0 run that extended from the final minutes of the first half into the third quarter. The Valkyries found themselves down by 16 and their whole beautiful season was on the brink.
Then Veronica Burton hit a three-pointer, and snapped the entire team back into focus.
"V hit a really big three, and once we saw that go in, we were okay, it's time to get going," Williams said.
Slowly they started climbing back. They started getting the stops Nakase demanded. Started making shots. Getting to the line. Scrapping for loose balls.
"I just think a switch flipped," Hayes said. "I know it did for me in my head. Like, ‘this is it.' We literally win or go home so we've gotta to do something."
They did something. Scratched and clawed and contained the dangerous tandem of Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. The latter still managed to get 30 points and shoot fear into the heart of the crowd, but she also had a long rest in the third as the Valkyries mounted their come back.
Williams, who Hayes called "our dog, our leader, Gabby f---ing Williams," and who was named the French player of the year on Tuesday – beating out Victor Wembanyama, among others – started making her shots. She scored 17 points in the final 12:36 of the game.
"I came here because I just wanted someone to believe in me," Williams said. "I've had these moments… with my national team. But I never quite got that belief in the W.
"I love high-pressure situations. I'm best when, like, I don't have a choice but to be my best."
Down the stretch every possession was a battle, with contested shots and jump balls and blocks, and animated discussions with the officials.
It was during one of those, with 1:40 left to play, that the television cameras caught Nakase talking to an official, then collapsing to the floor, staying in a crouched position on her knees. She was quickly up, holding her head and grimacing. But she waived off medical attention and was back in the huddle drawing up a play. A team official said she was drinking water and thought she may have just been dehydrated.
Though Nakase was seen smiling with her team at the end of the game, she did not come to the postgame podium to address the media. Assistant coach Kasib Powell took her spot.
"Natalie's fine," he said. "We're just trying to figure it out. We just know that afterwards she was fine, laughing, in great spirits. I think she's totally fine. So we look forward to preparing and getting ready for Sunday."
No one would be more adamant about her players getting rest and hydration in the short turnaround than Nakase, so let's hope she's taking her own advice. The team has just a 40 hours between the end of their intense close-out game and hosting the dominant Aces in the semifinals. The Valkyries are irritated that, though they are the highest remaining seed, the third-seeded Aces get an extra day of rest.
But late Friday night, as their dynamic coach hydrated and they prepared to rest their weary bodies, the disadvantages of the playoff schedule were a secondary concern. They had fought. They had survived.
In a do-or-die game, the Valkyries learned just exactly what they can do. And what they are made of.
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