Thursday night’s Golden State Valkyries game will determine whether their playoff matchup will be against the #1 team in the WNBA, or a red-hot team on a 15-game winning streak, or a team they might stand a pretty good chance against.
Your Golden State Valkyries clinched a playoff spot last week, becoming the first-ever WNBA team to make the playoffs in their very first season, and delighting their Chase Center home court fans who have sold out every single game this season. And at this point, all eight WNBA playoff spots have been clinched, so we know exactly which teams are going to the playoffs. But heading into tonight’s final night of the WNBA regular season, the playoff matchups are mostly not yet determined, and hardly anyone knows who they’re playing yet.
But every team will know who they’re playing in the playoffs by the end of tonight. And that starts with the Valkyries final game against the Minnesota Lynx (yikes, the winningest team in the WNBA), an away game in Minnesota that starts at 5 pm PT.
Let’s look at the standings. The Valkyries currently hold the seventh seed, but they can’t stay there. If they win, they’re the sixth seed, if they lose, they’re the eighth seed. So they’re going to play either the Number One seed or the Number Three seed, and obviously, you’d rather play against Number Three in the playoffs instead of Number One.
And that Number One seed is the very Minnesota Lynx team that the Valkyries are playing tonight. But since the Lynx have already clinched the Number One seed, they might rest their starters, which would certainly help the Golden State Valkyries in their chances for one last regular-season win.
Let’s say the Valkyries win tonight. They would be the sixth seed, and would play either the Las Vegas Aces, who are on a 15-game winning streak right now and looking pretty unbeatable at the moment, or the Atlanta Dream.
If the Valkyries lose tonight, they’re the eighth seed, and they’re playing the league-leading Lynx once again, which is a very tall order.
So they’re going to play either the Lynx, the Aces, or the Dream in the first round of the playoffs. So far this season, the Valkyries have gone 0-3 against the Lynx (going into tonight’s game), they're 1-3 against the Aces, and 1-2 against the Dream.
And as a reminder, even in the playoffs, the Valkyries will not get a home game at the Chase Center. The place is already booked for the Laver Cup tennis tournament, so their home playoff game will be played in San Jose. They only get playoff games at the Chase Center if they advance to the second round, which would be a best-of-five series, with the Valkyries getting two home playoff games in that series.
Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 6: Veronica Burton #22 of the Golden State Valkyries dribbles with the ball in the second quarter against Jessica Shepard #15 of the Minnesota Lynx at Chase Center on September 6, 2025 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/Getty Images)
