SAN FRANCISCO – The problem with two elite defensive teams meeting in the WNBA Finals is two elite defensive teams meeting in the finals. Because a day like Saturday begins with so much anticipation, particularly around here, where sidewalk tailgates near the arena were setting up by 9:30 a.m. Before tipoff, the outgoing commissioner fairly extolled the state of the league, noting the record amount of people that paid to see the product in person this year.
The competitors, in a happy coincidence, represented franchises at the vanguard of that growth in many ways. This was the setup, per usual this time of year. A showcase unveiled. A championship-round pedestal. And then the teams smashed each other’s faces into bricks for two hours.
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Expecting anything else would mean expecting the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream to operate wildly out of character, and teams do not play for titles by doing that. So the 68-64 win for the Valkyries in Game 1 will not be the exception. It will be the black-and-blue rule. Easy to enjoy for some. Not easy on the eyes for anyone.
The league on the whole might be better served by putting something more aesthetic out there, in this final series, especially after a season of record-breaking offense and the thoroughly watchable basketball it created.
And, well, insert shrug emoji. We’ll instead get Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase fielding a question about a tangle that led to some sort of leg pain for star forward Gabby Williams on Saturday, and it turns into a real puzzler.
“Which one?” Nakase said, looking up and filing through her mental game film. “There were a lot of collisions.”
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Attrition is what the WNBA has to offer over the next couple weeks. Among the numbers that outgoing commissioner Cathy Engelbert cited Saturday, to tout this series? Six of the 10 members of the league’s all-defensive teams would be on the floor. It is absolutely a skill, and it is absolutely worth appreciating. It’s a mastery of the ultimate controllable. As Williams, a first-team all-defense honoree, noted the day before the finals began: A lot of it is just willingness.
Both of these teams are willing. Relentlessly willing. Occasionally overly willing. It can’t be said that either side got bullied when players from both teams hit the floor writhing at the same time, whether it was Veronica Burton and Rhyne Howard tumbling to the deck after vying for a rebound or Allisha Gray laying on her back in the paint while Tiffany Hayes laid on her stomach near midcourt.
It’s very possible, in fact, that the sequence during which Williams tweaked her leg happened on a free throw. Williams stood at the line. She held her follow-through. Atlanta guard Jordin Canada slid into position to box out the shooter, as basketball players have been taught since time immemorial. And then, after the make, they basically fell over each other.
That was this game, and that is these teams. A car crash even at a full stop.
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“It was a long game,” Williams said, declaring herself to be OK afterward. “It was a long, physical game.”
