Valkyries Complete Comeback Over Wings; Aces Seen as Biggest Title Hurdle

Golden State finished off Dallas 77-73 in Game 3 of the 2026 WNBA Playoffs, and the championship-tested Aces stand as the biggest obstacle between the Valkyries and a title.

The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Dallas Wings 77-73 in Game 3 to complete a series comeback in the 2026 WNBA Playoffs. Golden State had been the club facing elimination and dug out of a 16-point hole before finishing the job. The calm the team showed in the closing minutes reflected a roster that keeps its nerve with a season on the line.

The victory proved the Valkyries' remarkable run is more than a regular-season storyline, yet it also demonstrated how suddenly playoff momentum can swing. Every step from here requires a more exacting standard. Turning the season into a title celebration means getting through the hardest opponent left on the board.

That opponent, by most reckoning, is the Las Vegas Aces. Las Vegas pairs a championship résumé with a roster able to seize command of games, and for a rising Golden State team a full series against that caliber of opponent would be the truest read on the franchise — one demanding the Valkyries hold their best execution far longer than they did against Dallas.

A'ja Wilson is the centerpiece. She finishes inside, manufactures shots from the midrange, protects the rim and alters games at the defensive end, a combination that makes her possibly the single toughest assignment in the league. Any Golden State plan starts with keeping her from owning the paint.

Chelsea Gray completes the problem at guard. Her passing reads and judgment count most in the postseason, when defenses work to erase a team's first options, and she repeatedly puts teammates in spots where they can succeed. When Gray and Wilson find a rhythm together, Las Vegas leaves opposing defenses without a comfortable answer.

Golden State has ridden defensive pressure and well-timed scoring bursts to this point, but Las Vegas has the personnel and the big-game résumé to blunt both. Experience may be the widest gap between the clubs: the Aces know how to answer an opposing run, and they understand how one matchup change or a steady diet of attacks on a weak link can flip a series. Getting out of a single elimination game does not by itself equip a team to topple a proven winner, and the Valkyries cannot run on adrenaline when their shooting goes cold.

The tactical puzzle runs both ways. Sending extra bodies at Wilson creates open shots for her teammates, while leaving her one-on-one creates a different headache, so Golden State needs a scheme that burdens her and still gets out to shooters. On offense, turnovers and hurried possessions would hand Las Vegas control of the tempo, and a stagnant half-court attack lets the Aces load up. Patience with the ball and composure through cold stretches are the requirements.

There would be plenty of shared history in a Valkyries-Aces series. Head coach Natalie Nakase and rotation regular Kiah Stokes won championships and collected major honors in Las Vegas, and Tiffany Hayes also played for the organization. Nakase's working knowledge of the Aces could help Golden State anticipate tweaks a less familiar opponent might miss, Hayes showed against Dallas how much a composed veteran with shot creation can matter, and Stokes can offer a read on Las Vegas's interior players and defensive habits.

None of it guarantees an edge. Aces head coach Becky Hammon can reshape her team's approach and punish any patterns Golden State reveals, and with both sides knowing each other well, midgame corrections and execution would decide more than surprise. The larger Valkyries task is starting faster and avoiding long offensive droughts, because a 16-point hole against Las Vegas would be far harder to climb out of. The two clubs meet Sunday, when the Aces visit Chase Center for a 4:00 PM EDT tip-off on NBC, with streaming on Peacock.