What Valkyries need to do to avoid playing league-best Lynx in first round

The Valkyries did themselves no favors by losing to the Seattle Storm on Tuesday. 

If Golden State would have beaten Seattle, the expansion would have been locked into the No. 6 seed with a matchup against either the Atlanta Dream or Las Vegas Aces in the first round – two teams that the Valkyries have beaten at least once this season. 

But that didn’t happen. 

The Valkyries collapsed late and will now go into a must-win game against the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. If Golden State loses, it will be the No. 8 seed and will stay in Minnesota for Game 1 of the first round on Sunday. 

The stakes of Thursday’s game are simple: Win and clinch the No. 6 seed to avoid playing the Lynx. 

Golden State has lost all three matchups with Minnesota this season by an average margin of 9.3 points. The Valkyries were competitive in all three games until the fourth quarter when the Lynx’s star power became too much for Golden State.

The good news for the Valkyries is that Minnesota will likely rest its starters on Thursday, something the Lynx did in Tuesday’s game against the Indiana Fever. Superstar Napheesa Collier and former Stanford standout DiJonai Carrington both took Tuesday’s game off and could do the same against Golden State. 

But the Lynx’s bench has been formidable all season. In last Saturday’s loss to Minnesota, guard Natisha Hiedeman came off the bench to score 24 points in 28 minutes to torch Golden State in its regular season home finale.

Who would the Valkyries play as the sixth seed?

If both Atlanta and Las Vegas win their regular season finales, the Valkyries will get Atlanta in the first round. Should Atlanta win and Las Vegas lose its final game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Golden State would play the Aces in the first round.