Valkyries, Mystics clash amid tight battle for last playoff berths

What could be the most critical homestand in the brief existence of the Golden State Valkyries begins on Saturday when they welcome the Washington Mystics to San Francisco.

Golden State (19-18) plays five home games in eight days beginning with Saturday's contest. The Valkyries embark on this stretch while embroiled in a heated WNBA playoff race, leading Los Angeles by 1 1/2 games for the eighth and final bid ahead of Friday's slate.

The Sparks on Friday face Indiana, one of two teams Golden State trailed by just a half-game in the tight lower half of the postseason bracket outlook. The Valkyries are also a half-game behind Seattle, which hosts Chicago on Saturday.

Golden State's playoff push rests in part on the play of Veronica Burton, who has emerged as the Valkyries' standout since Kayla Thornton's season-ending knee injury in July. Burton posted her third double-double since July 31 -- and second in Golden State's last three games -- with a 25-point, 13-assist effort last Sunday in a 90-81 win at Dallas.

Burton is averaging 12 points per game, a team high with Thornton sidelined, and her 5.6 assists per game rank fifth in the league.

"This is a brand-new team, and (Burton) decided to take the leadership role of a point guard with no fear," Golden State coach Natalie Nakase told The Athletic.

Washington (16-23) heads into Saturday's game, the second of a three-game road swing, needing a late-season surge -- and some help -- to climb into the playoff picture. The Mystics are 10th in the WNBA, last among teams not yet eliminated from the postseason, following an 89-63 loss on Thursday at New York.

Washington sits 2 1/2 games behind Los Angeles and four games behind Golden State.

Thursday's blowout loss marked the Mystics' fifth straight defeat, a stretch that includes dropping back-to-back games to the last-place Connecticut Sun. Washington has failed to score more than 69 points in three of those previous five outings.

"Win or lose, we want to play Mystics basketball and be able to be proud at the end of the game that we gave 110 percent," Kiki Iriafen told the Washington Post. "I wouldn't say we did that (against New York)."

Golden State can complete a four-game season sweep with a win on Saturday, though every matchup has been decided by five points or fewer. In the most recent, an 88-83 Valkyries win on Aug. 13, Iriafen posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double for Washington, but the Mystics could not overcome Burton's career-best 30 points.