The Golden State Valkyries hope to regain some lost momentum entering the WNBA playoffs when they wrap up the regular season with a road game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night.
With three top players returning from the FIBA Women’s World Cup and a chance to tie the Minnesota Lynx atop the standings, the Valkyries (31-12) blew a 17-point lead and saw their six-game winning streak end in a 90-82 overtime loss to Portland on Tuesday.
The defeat not only assured that Golden State cannot earn the top seed in the playoffs but also put its second-place standing at risk. A Valkyries loss to the Sparks, coupled with a Las Vegas (30-13) win at Phoenix, would give the Aces the No. 2 seed in the postseason via a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Golden State coach Natalie Nakase assured reporters after Tuesday’s costly setback that her team’s priority in the regular-season finale would simply be to play better basketball, regardless of where they finish in the final standings.
“(It’s) time to watch film. Time to watch film and be honest with ourselves,” she declared. “How can we fight with a lot more energy? There’s nothing to save up for. We have to continue to play hard all four quarters. That has to be clear and direct going into LA because LA plays hard. They play very hard, and so (there’s) no underestimating. (We’ve) got to go out punching.”
The Valkyries will be seeking a season sweep of the Sparks. But their 84-78 victory in Los Angeles last month was nowhere near as convincing as the 78-58 shellacking they delivered to the Sparks in San Francisco in June.
The Sparks had a chance to help out the Valkyries on Tuesday but dropped an 89-79 decision in Las Vegas. Nneka Ogwumike had 17 points in the defeat.
Los Angeles (16-27) won’t make the playoffs this season, giving its finale extra meaning as it will be Ogwumike’s final game. The 2016 WNBA Most Valuable Player has announced her retirement, effective after one last bow in front of her home fans on Thursday.
“I’ve learned there’s power in knowing when to walk away,” the 11-time All-Star said recently. “For so long, that strength meant finding a way to keep pushing. Now, it means recognizing when you feel complete. I find myself grateful, fulfilled and at peace with everything this game has given me and everything I’ve poured into it.”
Ogwumike totaled 25 points and 14 rebounds in the two earlier meetings with Golden State.
–Field Level Media
