In Game 1, the Golden State Valkyries’ defense was the star of the show. In Game 2, it was Arike Ogunbowale for the Dallas Wings.
However, in both the Golden State and Dallas wins, key vets stepped up to seal the outcomes.
In Game 1, Tiffany Hayes looked way too spry for a 37-year-old with almost 420-career WNBA games on her resume. Hayes, somehow, still owns the fastest first step in the league, which she deployed with impunity in her 19 off-the-bench minutes. The quick-as-silver Hayes could not be kept out of the paint and away from the rim. In scoring 21 points, she was 4-for-5 inside the arc, in addition to earning, and making, four free throws. Tip also drained three triples for good measure.
In Game 2, the Wings benefitted from an even older, wiser and wilier vet. Alysha Clark logged a season-high 31 minutes and scored a season-best 21 points. The 39-year-old three-time champion who has played in more than 450 WNBA games was 3-for-4 from 3, 6-for-7 overall and 6-for-6 from the foul line, providing an efficient source of supporting scoring for the scintillating Ogunbowale.
Yep, it might seem cliché, but Hayes and Clark embodied the importance of experience on the playoff stage. It’s knowing what’s needed, when it’s needed and how it’s needed.
As Hayes said of herself, “I’m very adaptable. I know if I’m needed in a role, I can take it on.”
Before the series, Clark revealed what she was emphasizing to her younger teammates, stressing, “This is such a short series that you don’t have time for ‘my bads’ and mistakes that you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ll get that back.’ You have to be locked in.”
It’s that combination of flexibility and focus that will be required to win Game 3 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Players and coaches, while remaining fixated on the overarching schemes, strategies and priorities, also must be willing to adapt and adjust to the specific circumstances of the win-or-go-home game.
Both teams also have other seasoned vets who understand demands of the postseason stage.
Along with Hayes, the Valkyries can lean on the veteran knowledge of Kiah Stokes, who won a championship with Clark with the Las Vegas Aces in 2023, in addition to the 2022 and 2025 titles that she won with Vegas. It would be quite the shocker if Stokes, a near offensive non-factor, dropped a 21-point game to give Golden State the series win. However, her defense, already, has been essential, with her rim protection silencing the scoring of 2026 Most Improved Player Jessica Shepard, who has managed to score just four points across the two games.
Dallas awaits the impact of Odyssey Sims. The well-traveled veteran is well-versed in responding to a team’s particular needs. Last season, she was a savior for an injured Indiana Fever squad. At age 32 and for a team that she joined in the middle of the season, she authored her best-ever playoff game, scoring 27 points as she strove to lead the Fever past the favored Aces in Game 5 of their semifinal series. Can Sims conjure a similar such performance, except in victory, on Friday?
Yes, another great game from Gabby Williams, near-perfection from Paige Bueckers, crucial buckets from Veronica Burton or another Arike epic more likely will be the headliner, celebrated for helping Golden State win the franchise’s first-ever playoff series or allowing Dallas to pull off an incredible upset.
But, don’t doubt the potentially decisive, determinative play of one of these vets.
What do you think? Will the impact of vets like Tip and AC swing the outcome of Game 3? Or, will stars shine in San Francisco?
Share your predictions in the comments.