When Joe Lacob was granted an expansion WNBA franchise, he made the extremely bold (and on brand) proclamation that the Golden State Valkyries would be champions within five years. No one outside of the Chase Center took that prediction too seriously.
And now the Valkyries are one series away from being in champions in year two.
On Friday night in Sin City, the Valkyries dethroned the defending-champion Las Vegas Aces in an overtime thriller, winning 87-77 to sweep the best-of-five series. After losing
all three regular season contests against the Aces, the Valkyries won all three postseason games, and are a series away from proving what has appeared to be the case for months: that they’re the best team in the WNBA.
As has been the case for so many of their playoff games this year, Golden State was a little slow out of the gates, and slightly out of sorts offensively. It took them nearly three-and-a-half minutes to register their first points, but thanks to yet another strong defensive performance from the league’s most stalwart defense, they stayed in the game even without any buckets. As so often happens in the playoffs, the Valkyries were coming and going with their stars, and they fell behind early as Gabby Williams struggled. But Williams, the team’s lone All-Star representative this season, found a rhythm late, and as she did, so too did the team. Golden State never led in the first quarter, and A’ja Wilson — just named league MVP for the record-setting fifth time — had seven points, but thanks to a late jumper by Kaitlyn Chen, they trailed just 19-16 after the opening frame, and had some momentum.
Despite relying heavily on the three throughout the season, the Valkyries were doing the bulk of their work in the paint early on, but as the clock rolled into the second quarter, they were getting uncharacteristically sloppy. It was here where the experience discrepancy between the Valkyries and the Aces — who were in the semifinals for the eighth consecutive season — started to show.
It was particularly noticeable with Aces guard Chelsea Gray, a four-time champion who has been in the playoffs in each of the past 11 seasons. She looked more composed than the entire Valkyries team combined in the second quarter, as she scored the first eight points for Vegas and single-handedly pushed their lead back to seven points.
But after working the paint, Golden State started to make it rain from deep, as they got right back in the game. Suddenly it seemed as though the pressure of the moment dawned on both teams, as the game turned chaotic midway through the second quarter. It wasn’t sloppy so much as a case of two teams wanting it so badly that they forgot to execute properly. Those moments always favor the experienced, and Vegas started to pull aways as the Valkyries turned ice cold. Gray took over late again, making a three near the end of the quarter, giving the Aces a 45-36 halftime advantage, and giving Gray 13 points in the frame. Just to add to the momentum, Gray sunk another three moments after the clock expired, sending the home crowd into a frenzy even though the shot didn’t count.
In keeping with their theme at the start of halves, Golden State was slow out of the gates in the third quarter. But the slowness only lasted for a few minutes, and then it was replaced by something familiar to any Valkyries fan: a spirit-crushing run fueled by other-worldly defense.
The Valkyries turned it up a notch on the defensive end of the court, and then they turned it up several notches. And as their defense dominated and the Vegas crowd grew deathly silent, the offense turned opportunities into points.
An 8-0 run made it a single-possession game, and then suddenly it was a 10-0 run. The defining moment came with just under four minutes remaining in the third, when Jackie Young was stuffed by Kiah Stokes, whose defensive dominance very much continued in this game. After the Valkyries missed a shot, they got an offensive rebound (a theme of this series), and Chen turned it into a layup, giving Golden State their first lead of the game.
But they weren’t done. Cecilia Zandalasini stole the ball from Gray on the next possession, leading to a pair of Kayla Thornton free throws. After forcing an empty possession from Vegas, Stokes — who made just 20 threes all season (and that was a career high for her) — drained a triple, which capped a scintillating 17-0 Golden State run. A double-digit deficit had been turned into a six-point lead, and the dejection in the arena was palpable.
Finally Young stopped the bleeding for the Aces with a running floater with 2:07 remaining in the quarter. It had, stunningly, ended a stretch of more than seven minutes without a single point for the defending champs.
But champions aren’t rattled easily, and it’s no coincidence that Vegas not only won the title a year ago, but captured glory three times in the last four seasons. They were impressively unfazed by Golden State’s blitz, and after Young’s bucket they got a stop, drained a three, forced a Natalie Nakase timeout, and then immediately forced a turnover as well. When the quarter ended the Valkyries led 53-52, and you could cut the tension with a knife.
Las Vegas immediately tied the game to start the fourth, and then it became a back-and-forth defensive staring contest. Golden State couldn’t score, but they refused to let their opponent score, either.
Finally the champs found their footing and punched back, with a handful of buckets. They had responded to Golden State’s 17-0 run with a 12-2 burst of their own, and suddenly Vegas had a two-possession lead. That lead started to grow, and Nakase called a timeout with just under six minutes remaining, and the Valkyries trailing by five points. You could feel the urgency as Golden State went to the bench to draw up a play and talk strategy.
As is so often the case with Nakase, it was a fruitful timeout, and the ATO resulted in a good look from deep for Zandalasini, who was fouled on the attempt and made two of the three free throws. At that point, one thing was clear: we were in for a dramatic and sensational finish. The only question was whether it would lead to Game 4 or a celebration.
With 2:51 remaining, the Valkyries trailed by six, and they were in desperate need of a bucket. Veronica Burton provided just what they needed, drawing a foul and making both free throws to pull within four. After Gray missed a tough jumper, Williams found Stokes under the hoop for a bucket, pulling the Valkyries to within two points with just over two minutes remaining. And then came one of the biggest plays of the night: Williams stole the ball from the just-crowned MVP, and pushed the ball up the court to Kayla Thornton, who dropped in the game-tying layup with 1:50 remaining.
Game on.
Becky Hammon called a timeout to draw up a play, but the Valkyries were ready. They came out of the timeout with a nearly perfect defensive possession, forcing Wilson into a very difficult shot, which she missed. On the other end of the court, sensing an opportunity to seize control of the game, Burton went to work. She was unable to get a clean look, but muscled up a shot through strong defense, and banked it home. With 1:12 remaining, she had capped an 8-0 Golden State run, and given them a two-point lead.
Vegas’ ensuing possession took them under the one-minute mark, as everyone was on the edge of their seat. And after using most of the shot clock, Young turned the ball over following some swarming Golden State defense. Williams brought some control to the game and slowed things down, working the clock and waiting for the right opportunity. Finally she went to work with an array of moves, and got to her spot, but missed a pullup jumper. Las Vegas grabbed the rebound and called timeout, trailing by two points but with just enough time remaining for a two-for-one.
And indeed, they tried to go quickly for the two-for-one, but Stokes once again blocked a shot, this time leaving Wilson helpless under the basket following her latest stunning defensive possession. But the ball went out of bounds to the Aces, who had a brilliant inbounds play up their sleeve, and Young was able to make an uncontested layup to tie the game with 26.6 seconds remaining.
Golden State got the ball back with a chance to win the game, and Williams repeated her prior sequence: she worked a lot of clock, broke down the defense with some incredible moves, but missed the shot. Wilson gobbled up the rebound and Vegas called timeout with 3.9 seconds left, now with the opportunity to walk it off in front of their home crowd.
But the Valkyries played perfect defense on the always-clutch Gray, forcing her into a slightly off-balance shot which rimmed out. To overtime the teams went, with the thriller knotted at 71.
As is so often the case in dramatic overtime games, the better team prevailed. For as absurdly talented as Las Vegas is, it’s been clear all series that Golden State was the best team, and that immediately made itself known in the overtime period, as the Aces ran out of steam.
Tiffany Hayes struck first, making a driving layup 34 seconds into the extra frame to give the Valkyries a lead they wouldn’t give up. It was again a defensive slugfest, as Golden State didn’t allow Vegas to score until more than halfway through the allotted five minutes, though they only had four points of their own at that juncture. But after Vegas finally did score (on a driving layup by Gray), the Valkyries immediately answered back, with Hayes immediately getting to the rim for a bucket of her own.
From there, it was all Golden State, from the players on the court to the fans in the stands, where there were a stunning number of folks dressed in purple and black, cheering on the team they had traveled with, and getting louder and louder as the Aces crowd grew silent.
Jewell Loyd missed a jumper on the next possession, the Valkyries grabbed the rebound, and Williams was fouled going to the hoop, where she made both free throws to push the lead to six points with just 1:28 remaining. Desperate for anything on offense, Young tried to get to the rim on Vegas’ next possession, but was called for an offensive foul. In response, Williams worked some clock, broke out a clean crossover, and drained a mid-range jumper with 54.7 seconds, giving Golden State an eight-point lead.
At this point they could feel it, and it showed in their effort. Stokes blocked a shot on the next possession, and even after the Aces got the rebound, the Valkyries forced a turnover. At that point Las Vegas was forced to play the foul game, and when Williams sank a pair with 46.9 second remaining to push the lead to 10 points, it was clear how the game was going to end. From there, it was just a matter of how long the Aces would keep fouling.
In all, Golden State won the extra period 16-6 to give themselves an 87-77 win, setting up a celebration in a city known for them. It was a balanced attack for the Valkyries, with four people in double figures, led by Thornton’s 18 points (which came with nine rebounds).
But the star for the Valkyries had to be Stokes, who finished with a stellar stat line that still didn’t do justice to how well she played: 11 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals, while being a +18 in her 38 minutes (the only player with a better plus/minus was Hayes, who was +20).
Perhaps the best way to describe Stokes’ impact is not with her stat line, but with someone else’s: Wilson is building a pretty bulletproof case as the greatest player in WNBA history, but on this night shot just 6-for-19 from the field (though she still finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds). Stokes was the largest reason why.
The Valkyries, in their second season, are now just four wins away from hoisting a trophy. They’ll face off against the Atlanta Dream, who earlier in the night completed their own sweep against the New York Liberty. The teams will get a week off to rest and prepare, with the 2026 WNBA Finals started next Saturday, October 17. It’s a best-of-seven series, with Golden State hosting Games 1 and 2 (the 17th and 19th) and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7 (the 26th and 31st).
