Magic Number Check-In: 8/7/26
Court got me blue...
The march toward post season clarity continues! This week a pair of strong games against the Tempo saw two wins drop off the Valkyries magic numbers. In what counts as a bit of a bonus, we also saw the Sky’s victory over the Sparks take a win off the board for any of the teams sitting on the outside, and reduce the numbers for some of those within.
All said and done that means 2-3 wins have dropped off of the Valkyrie’s magic numbers depending on the seed in question, that already makes for a pretty great week. Tonight, we get to see the Valks matchup against the Wings in what is arguably one of the most important games on the Valkyrie’s remaining schedule.
Why? Simply put, GSV doesn’t have a lot of games against teams inside the playoff bubble. Only five out of the team’s remaining fourteen games in fact. A pair of games against the Wings, two more against the Lynx, and a final game to close out the series against the Liberty-biberty make up the list. These games inside the bubble are important as they can have the value of giving a team a win while holding their competition down in place, these games make for a valuable double win swing that the Valkyries don’t want to squander.
This is especially true with the Wings nipping at the Valkyrie’s heels only two games back. It would certainly make life a lot easier on the Valks tonight to pad out the seeding a bit more. Also, as if that weren’t reason enough for a win, taking at least one of the remaining games against the Wings would also lock in the most valuable of the five undecided tie breaks in the Valkyrie’s favor.
So TL;DR …G! …S! …V! …G! …S! …V!
…now, onto the numbers! (numbers include all games played through the end of 8/6)
Current Standings:
Current Valkyrie’s Seeding: 3 of 15
Current Magic Number to Clinch the Playoffs: 6
Current Highest Possible Finish: 1st
Highest Possible Finish without Help: 2nd
Current Magic Numbers:
1 Seed: DNCD (team does not control their destiny, need other teams to lose)
2 Seed: 13
3 Seed: 12
4 Seed: 12
5 Seed: 11
6 Seed: 10
7 Seed: 9
8 Seed: 6
Notes:
The current 9th place team is the Sparks with a losing number of 9 games, the 9th place team hitting their losing number would lock in the playoff field
9th place is quite the mess at the moment, there are four (!!!) teams with 12 wins clumped on the edge of the bubble with LA currently taking the tie breaks, but honestly right now it can change when someone sneezes the wrong way
As for 8th place, that is the Mystics with a 5 game lead on the Sparks
We are on the verge of the first team clinching a playoff spot, The Lynx are one win away from their ticket to the post season
With the 2nd win over the Tempo (the 3rd win was just fun-sies) the Valkyries scooped up yet another tie breaker. The current breakdown with playoff teams in bold:
Valks hold the tie break over: ATL, CON, IND, NYL, PHX, SEA, TOR, WAS
Teams that hold the tie break over the Valks: LVA
Teams we still have to play more: CHI, DAL, LAS, MIN, PDX
The Valkyries Next 5 Games:
8/7 - GSV @ DAL
8/9 - GSV @ LAS
8/12 - CHI @ GSV
8/17 - DAL @ GSV
8/19 - MIN @ GSV
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