Playoff-bound Valkyries try their luck against league-leading Lynx

Having clinched a historic berth in the WNBA playoffs, the Golden State Valkyries now aim to improve their seeding among the eight postseason participants when they host the first-place Minnesota Lynx on Saturday night in San Francisco.

A fifth consecutive win Thursday — 84-80 at home over the Dallas Wings — not only assured the Valkyries (23-18) would be the first team ever to make the playoffs in their inaugural season, but also solidified the club’s sixth-place standing with just three games remaining.

As it prepares for its final regular-season home game, Golden State could still finish as high as fifth — a spot currently held by the New York Liberty — and as low as eighth, which would mean a first-round matchup with the Lynx, who have clinched the No. 1 seed.

The Valkyries will be an underdog no matter who they draw in the playoffs, and star rookie Janelle Salaun insisted she and her teammates would have it no other way.

“A lot of people didn’t believe in us, but it fires us up; it’s a good thing,” Salaun said after contributing a team-high 19 points to Thursday’s win. “It’s better to start as an underdog and just prove to everyone. I feel like a lot of girls on this team have been in this position. It’s something that we’re used to.”

Golden State will be an underdog once again Saturday. The Lynx have won both previous head-to-heads by double figures — 86-75 at Golden State in June and 82-71 at home in July. The clubs will meet for a fourth and final time — in the regular season, anyway — next Thursday in Minneapolis in the regular-season finale.

Minnesota (32-9) is coming off a rarity — a 97-87 road loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night. The Lynx have lost consecutive games just once all season.

Minnesota elected to sit out guard DiJonai Carrington in Las Vegas because of a left shoulder subluxation. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve disclosed the priority would be to have Carrington available for the playoffs, which begin Sept. 14, over rushing her back.

With the road to the WNBA championship now assured to go through Minneapolis, Reeve clearly has her sights set on winning a title one year after coming up one win short in a Game 5 in New York.

“We have a scenario now that if we win our home (playoff) games, we win a WNBA championship,” Reeve said this week. “It doesn’t mean that it’s easy. But anything that you can get to be an advantage in your favor, we needed to be able to secure that.”

The two biggest difference-makers in the first two meetings have been MVP candidate Napheesa Collier, who has averaged 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds, and superior 3-point shooting (the Lynx have outshot the Valkyries 39.3 percent to 30.3 percent from deep).

–Field Level Media