The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Expansion Golden State Makes It Two Straight by Winning in OT at Los Angeles; Clark Cleared But Held Out for Atlanta as Indiana is Cautious

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

In the lone WNBA game to get the week under way Monday night the expansion Golden State Valkyries (4-5) followed up the recent stunner over Las Vegas by winning on the road 89-81 in overtime against Los Angeles (3-7) at crypto.com arena, formerly the Staples Center, going 2-1in the series between the two before a Sparks crowd of 10,921.

Additionally, Golden State evened their Commissioner’s Cup record at 2-2 while Los Angeles dropped to 2-2.

With a heavy dose of early action behind them, the two teams will not see each other again until August 9 in their last regular season action against each other.

The visit was the second one returning Golden State coach Natalie Nakase to the city the former Las Vegas assistant played at UCLA in college.

She is the first Asian American coach in the WNBA.

“We talked at halftime, we didn’t play our greatest half,” Nakase said after the win. “We were very soft. We knew the level we had to get to.

“So, we picked up defensively, the physically, their awareness, their communication, you could tell in the third and fourth quarter they had each other’s back. That’s what we’re trying to do, to rely on each other, to hold each other accountable. That was really cool to see.”

In this one, Kayla Thornton sealed it with a 3-pointer with 37.9 seconds left in the period.

The score was tied 78-78 after regulation in a game that was close all night after the Valkyries answered Kelsey Plum’s 3-pointer that had put the Sparks up 78-76 with 37.8 seconds left as Carla Leite tied it 12 seconds later following an offensive board by the visitors to keep possession.

Plum was unable to score the potential game-winner before regulation time expired.

The former Washington star and NCAA career scoring leader before Iowa’s Caitlin Clark eclipsed her in 2024 dished her WNBA 1,000th career assist earlier in the period.

Golden State, which dominated the boards 49-34 including 17-6 on the offensive glass, went up 82-79 on Veronica Burton’s first score of the night and Thornton’s basket on the next possession, while Janelle Salaun, who had 21 points and eight boards, kept the Valkyries up 82-79 on their next possession with 2:03 left.

The Sparks flamed out in the extra period making just 1 of 9 attempts from the field.

Thornton double doubled with 18 points and 11 boards, and England’s Temi Fagbenle, who played most of her NCAA career at Harvard and also played in the WNBA at Minnesota, scored 14 points and also went double double with 13 boards besides four blocks and four steals.

“We told her, we really need you,” Nakase said of Thornton. “Credit KT. She really pulled us through at the end.”

Leite collected 15 points and Monique Billings scored 10 while the Valkyries thrived at the line going 20-of-23.

Plum paced the Sparks with 24 points, including 12 off four makes from deep, while Dearica Hamby had 20 points with nine rebounds and five assists.

Los Angeles next goes to Las Vegas Wednesday at 10 p.m. on CBSSN on a night that also has Dallas at Phoenix while Minnesota, unbeaten at 9-0, is at Seattle the same tip times on the WNBA’s streaming League Pass.

The Valkyries are off until hosting Seattle Saturday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco where the new WNBA team has sold out all four earlier home games with crowds of 18,000+ in the shared venu with NBA Golden State.

On Tuesday the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty (8-0) will try to regain the unbeaten tie at the top of the league with Minnesota when hosting Chicago at 8 p.m. on ESPN at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Clark Not Returning Just Yet for Indiana

The other game Tuesday has Indiana at Atlanta 7:30 p.m. on ESPN3 but while the visiting Fever’s Caitlin Clark has been cleared to play after missing four games with a left quad strain, coach Stephanie White said Monday her return, nor that of the injured Sophie Cunningham, who has played just four games, won’t happen just yet.

It’s the first lost time for Clark, who was hurt in the two-point loss at home to New York late last month, spanning her collegiate Iowa career and her debut pro season last season in which the overall No. 1 pick of the Fever became rookie of the year.

White said Clark is “ready to start ramping back up” but won’t take part in entire practice sessions.

“We're going to be smart, and we're going to be cautious, and we're going to play the long game and work her back in very intentionally,” White said.

After Tuesday Indiana will have off all week to assess the two players heading into New York’s Saturday visit.

“…are they in basketball condition, what does it mean to go live?” White said. “It's one thing to do some shooting drills; It's another thing to get out there on the floor, get back into movement patterns, rhythm, timing.

“We're picking and choosing the things they can be in practice so we can see their progression. Both of them being out for long periods of time, you've got to work your way back into being game-ready.”