Date, Time, Location: Sunday, August 17th, 5:30pm PDT, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: KPYX (Bay Area), KMAX (Sacramento), PeachtreeTV (opposing team’s local market), NBATV and WNBA League Pass (outside local markets), KGMZ (radio)
The Golden State Valkyries return home on Sunday for the first of two games in a row in San Francisco when they host the Atlanta Dream. This will be the first time that they host the team sitting in a surprising second place right now, having already visited them twice, winning their last meeting. With teams grouped so closely in the playoff chase, every game matters as the Valkyries try to keep their winning streak going.
The Valkyries
There is no new player news for the Valkyries as they were able to get some rest and play their bench players more minutes on Friday. The last game against Atlanta was the one where Monique Billings tried to return from injury only to exit and be out for this extended period of time. Kaila Charles was not on the team yet for that previous game as she continues to get some minutes early in the game even with the plans for her being unclear after this homestand.
The Opposition
Atlanta has been on a year since losing to the Valkyries, winning six games in a row. They were technically the home team in their last game, which was officially a neutral site game in Vancouver, but certainly did not have the fans on their side due to the proximity to Seattle. They almost pulled out a second straight win over the Storm on Friday after winning the true road game on Wednesday, but fell short late to snap that winning streak. This will be the fifth of six games away from their home arena and this could be a good time to catch them on their travels.
The Dream were without Rhyne Howard the last time that they played the Valkyries, but she has since returned. They will not have their full starting lineup though as point guard Jordin Canada recently suffered an injury and will not be available. Atlanta has tweaked their starting lineup recently with Naz Hillmon starting in place of Brittney Griner, which changes the height matchups and should not lead to Golden State trying to match their lineup. They also recently worked on filling their vacant roster spot, starting by giving Kamiah Smalls a chance before just signing post player Sika Kone after she was waived by the Washington Mystics, but she had not joined the team in time to play on Friday after just signing.
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