A wonderful Sunday game! (yes I am in total denial about how down to the wire it came and I am now moving on though the power of wilful denial)
In a piece of history, this win tied last season’s win total of 23 but in a whopping 9 less games with the opportunity to grow the number a bit more too. All said and done, a win by the Valkyries, and some of the action we’ll talk about in the next paragraph, was great news for their magic number, which now stands at a relatively minimal 3 wins.
We also watched the Lynx punch the first ticket to the playoffs with their win over the Wings. The Liberty-Biberty took care of business against the Aces and in doing so helped put the Aces a game and a half back on the Valkyries for 2nd in the standings. The Mystics also beat the Mercury which, especially when paired with the Sparks losing, added to the buffer between 8th and 9th place.
All in all, a hell of a weekend for the Valkyries in the standings before a three game Ballhalla home stand!
Current Standings through 8/9:
Current Valkyrie’s Seeding: 2 of 15
Current Magic Number to Clinch the Playoffs: 3
Current Highest Possible Finish: 1st
Highest Possible Finish without Help: 2nd
Current Magic Numbers through 8/9:
1 Seed: DNCD (do not control destiny, other teams need to lose)
2 Seed: 11
3 Seed: 10
4 Seed: 9
5 Seed: 8
6 Seed: 8
7 Seed: 7
8 Seed: 3
Notes:
With the Storm being out, The Sun are next on elimination watch with a losing magic number of 3 before they officially bow out of the playoffs
The next teams in line to clinch playoff spots are the Valkyries and the Aces, with respective magic numbers of 3 and 4. Currently the Valkyries have a game in hand on the Aces which means that, at least for the moment, the Aces don’t control their own destiny for the second seed.
With their three game skid the Wings have dropped into 8th place
The Fire managed to get to 13 wins by beating the Storm on Saturday and that means the Fire are in 9th place, 6 wins back from the Wings.
Another update also means another clinched tiebreaker, this time the Valks clinched the tie break against the Sparks. Here is the tie breakers list, the current playoff teams in bold:
Valks hold the tie break over: ATL, CON, DAL, IND, LAS, NYL, PHX, SEA, TOR, WAS
Teams that hold the tie break over the Valks: LVA
Undecided tie breaks: CHI, MIN, PDX
The Valkyries Next 5 Games:
8/12 - CHI @ GSV
8/17 - DAL @ GSV
8/19 - MIN @ GSV
8/21 - GSV @ CHI
8/24 - GSV @ MIN
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