Wings Fall to Valkyries as Golden State Takes Control After Halftime

The Dallas Wings did not get the result they wanted in their first game at American Airlines Center since announcing they will play their full home schedule there beginning next season.

The Golden State Valkyries pulled away during the second half for a 94-76 win Friday night, giving Dallas its fourth loss in its last five games and dropping the Wings to 19-13.

Golden State improved to 22-9 and won for the fourth straight time against Dallas. The teams will play one more time during the regular season on Aug. 17 at Chase Center.

Friday marked Dallas’ second appearance at American Airlines Center this season, where the Wings had already picked up a 96-91 win over the Chicago Sky on July 12.

Paige Bueckers led the Wings with 17 points and four assists, while Aziaha James added 13 points in her first start of the season. Alanna Smith chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.

James started in place of Azzi Fudd, who was ruled out shortly before tipoff with right knee soreness. Fudd participated in warmups before beginning to feel soreness and did not play as a precaution.

Bueckers opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers and scored 11 of her points in the first quarter, but Golden State weathered the early attack and entered the second quarter ahead 26-21.

Slowing Bueckers down became a Golden State focus after the first quarter.

“They topside her, don’t let her catch it and they trap her,” Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said.

Golden State led 44-36 at the half and took control of the game in the third quarter. The Valkyries made four of their first five shots to start the quarter and outscored Dallas 30-22 to build a 74-58 lead they would not relinquish.

“We had to make a decision at halftime,” Fernandez said. “We’re going to get back in the game or we’re going to get blown out. That’s what happened. It went the other direction that we didn’t want it to go.”

Veronica Burton led Golden State with 22 points and seven assists, while Gabby Williams added 19. Kayla Thornton finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Golden State didn’t just outscore Dallas. They dominated the game from an assist perspective, finishing with 27 compared to Dallas’ eight, the Wings’ lowest assist total in a game since 2019.

The Valkyries hit 12 3-pointers on the night while shooting 46.5% from the field. Dallas shot 33.9% from the field overall and was 7-of-25 from three. The Wings had 38 free throw attempts, the most they’ve had since 2022, but missed 11.

Golden State entered Friday night with the WNBA’s best defensive rating and defense was something both teams emphasized before and after the game.

Before tipoff, Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase made it clear what she wanted to see from her team.

“Play defense,” Nakase said. “I’m asking for it, begging for it. We’ve done two quarters of it, I’d say, the last two games. I’m asking for four.”

Nakase pointed back to Golden State’s best stretches of the season as evidence of what the Valkyries look like when that effort lasts an entire game.

“That’s what we did when we were on our streak, is we played all four quarters,” Nakase said. “So that’s all I’m asking for tonight.”

Williams echoed the same message before the game and viewed defense as the key to everything Golden State wanted to accomplish offensively.

“Defense for four quarters. That’s it. Defense,” Williams said. “Our offense feeds off of our defense tonight, and this team has a lot of weapons offensively. So if we don’t get it done on the defensive end, we’re going to struggle tonight.”

Golden State did not struggle for long. After Bueckers’ early burst, the Valkyries increasingly made Dallas work for clean looks, while their own defense helped create opportunities in transition and allowed them to settle into the game.

Even after Dallas shot just 33.9% for the game, Nakase still thought Golden State could’ve been better defensively, particularly from the opening tip.

“I don’t want to respond. I want to punch first,” Nakase said.

Nakase’s standard remained high even after an 18-point win. She pointed to Bueckers walking into two early 3-pointers as an example of Golden State not immediately executing the game plan.

Burton praised her team defensively and said they do a good job of playing as a unit.

“We play really good team defense, and we never want anyone to feel like they’re on an island,” Burton said.

That connectivity showed up on the other end as well. Golden State’s 27 assists reflected the spacing and willingness to move the ball that Burton credited after the game.

“I think our pace and our spacing is really good, and it’s one of our biggest strengths,” Burton said. “So when we can get out and run and maintain our space, I think it gives me easy looks.”

That willingness to sacrifice also has been part of what Nakase believes has helped Golden State develop its chemistry.

“You don’t mess with chemistry,” Nakase said.

Nakase credited Golden State’s chemistry to a roster willing to sacrifice individual production for the way the Valkyries play.

Dallas focused on its defensive performance as well, acknowledging it did not meet the standard needed against Golden State.

“Golden State was attacking us one-on-one, so we just got to guard our yard,” James said.

Fernandez wanted more from his team defensively, regardless of whether shots are falling through the hoop.

“If the ball’s not going in the basket, the one thing that you can always do is defend,” Fernandez said. “Keep your guy in front of you, have backside rotations. For one reason or another, they weren’t there today.”

The Wings have played a hectic schedule since the All-Star break and Friday’s game was the fifth of a six-game stretch in 12 days. Fernandez did not want to use exhaustion as an excuse for his team’s performance.

“We got to quit making excuses, man,” Fernandez said.

James acknowledged that this part of the season requires more attention to recovery as Dallas continues through a compressed stretch.

“Recovery,” James said. “The second part of the season, this is where wear and tear is starting to happen. Getting ready for playoffs, just staying prepared, getting to film, getting rest, recovery, just making sure the body’s straight.”

Fernandez did, however, want to see more accountability within the team moving forward as Dallas looks to right the ship during its current four-loss-in-five-games skid.

“Confidence is great, but we also gotta take individual accountability along with that confidence,” Fernandez said. “They gotta get on each other a little bit more. It can’t just be the coaching staff.”

Burton’s performance also marked her second straight game with at least 10 points and five assists, another sign of the consistency Nakase has seen from her.

More than Burton’s 22 points or seven assists, however, Nakase pointed to her voice as one of the biggest developments of the night.

“I thought today she took a huge, huge leap in leadership,” Nakase said. “It comes from passion, it comes from wanting to win. And I think V just took a different level tonight.”

Williams has also felt Nakase pushing her to grow as a leader in her first season with Golden State.

“She’s definitely pushing me as a leader, and that’s a big reason why I came here, was to get better on and off the court, in all aspects,” Williams said. “So I’m really lucky to have a coach like her.”

Dallas will have little time to clean things up before its next game. The Wings wrap their six games in 12 days stretch Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be nationally televised on NBC and streamed on Peacock.