The Valkyries' brand of basketball is as mental as it is physical

The Golden State Valkyries made easy work out of the Dallas Wings on Sunday night, delivering a devastating 104-80 blowout to clinch the franchise's first ever playoff win in its second year. Shots were falling for almost everyone who touched the floor – with Cecilia Zandalasini (22), Tiffany Hayes (21), and Gabby Williams (20), all scoring above the 20 point mark and 11 of 12 rostered players making a bucket – the defense was as stifling as ever, and Bay Area legend Too $hort was in the building, much to the delight of Williams. Despite the technical brilliance of the win, the Valkyries' mindset was really what was on full display on Sunday,

The objective has been clear for weeks now, and it was echoed by Nakase ahead of Sunday's matchup: "win or die." Despite being the No. 2 seed and beating multiple top-ranked opponents this season, the Valkyries still speak and play like they're underdogs, because in many ways they are. Though the team has been dominant for the vast majority of the 2026 season, the narrative that the Valkyries don't have championship level players or offense as a whole prevails, and being a second-year franchise with a second-year head coach adds to the general skepticism that they can actually win a title this year.

Luckily for Golden State though, offense (or outside noise, for that matter) has never been the main concern. As Nakase, Williams, or any other member of the team will tell you, the goal is for the defense to dictate the offense, not the other way around. Paige Bueckers told the media after Sunday's game, "... When they're flying around, getting stops, shots tend to go in more for them." You see this manifest when Veronica Burton urges her team to "go into half with [the Wings'] morale at rock bottom," after a big defensive stop or when Ballhalla goes wild at a steal, then somehow manages to get 10 times louder when it leads to an open three in transition. You see it when, other than Bueckers, no Wing scored more than 6 points in the first two quarters of the game despite the team being sixth in regular season points per game.

The killer instinct doesn't stop with the more experienced players, either. Top to bottom, this roster is ready to compete – on Sunday, all 12 eligible Valkyries touched the floor, and all but one scored, including Aminata Gueye, a new addition to the squad from the French national team. Whether the player has 13 years or less than a month of WNBA experience, Nakase expects the same from them: penetrate the paint hard and look for opportunities to kick out for open threes. Make life hard for the opponent in any way possible. Win. The. Game.

That "win or die" mentality is a scary one to have to face off against in the post-season. When a roster as skilled and as deep as Golden State's decides it's going to play as if it still needs to prove itself, knowing what to do isn't enough. Ahead of the game, Dallas coach Jose Fernandez perfectly named what it would take – elite communication, limiting turnovers, and guarding the three-point line – but its a different ball game when you have to decide whether to help off of Zandalasini standing in the corner or let Burton penetrate for an easy bucket, all while you can barely hear the sound of your own breath over the splitting cheers inside of the Chase Center.

Even 21 points (9-10 FG) from one of the league's best point guards in Bueckers failed to make even a bump in the Valkyries' road to taking Game One, and it's hard to imagine anything else will in this series.

Perhaps the scariest fact of all is that Golden State is far from satisfied with last night's record-breaking performance. After the game, Nakase said the Valkyries were "getting there," but that she wasn't pleased with how the defensive energy dipped after the team's (franchise record 37 point) second quarter. "We talk about empty the tank mentality, and I think for about two and a half quarters...we really emptied the tank." Now imagine what this Valkyries team will look like if it manages to empty the tank for a full 40 minutes.

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