July 8, 2026

Valkyries Daily: One All-Star, One Shot at Second

The All-Star reserves dropped last night with one Golden State name on them, and Veronica Burton was not on the list. Tonight in Toronto, a Valkyries win plus a Minnesota loss puts Golden State in second place.

One Valkyrie All-Star. Burton was not the second.

The WNBA released its 12 All-Star reserves Tuesday night, and Gabby Williams remains the only Golden State player headed to Chicago for the July 25 game. She was already voted a starter last week. No Valkyrie joined her off the bench.

Veronica Burton, who leads the team in assists and is averaging 12.6 points, was the closest thing Golden State had to a second candidate. ESPN's projection earlier this week had her as a possible injury-replacement pick. The league's coaches did not agree. NBC's roundup listed Burton among the "notable omissions," alongside Chelsea Gray, Brittney Sykes, and Kahleah Copper.

The door is not shut. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert selects replacements if an All-Star cannot play, and three selected All-Stars are currently hurt: A'ja Wilson (leg), Kelsey Plum (lower leg), and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles (calf). Any of those slots opening would put Burton, the next-closest Valkyrie, back in play.

The loudest Valkyries-adjacent name on the list belonged to tonight's opponent. Toronto guard Marina Mabrey was named the first All-Star in Tempo franchise history in Toronto's inaugural season. She is averaging 21.1 points and a league-leading 3.5 threes per game, and she tied the WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points last month.

Tonight: Valkyries at Toronto Tempo, 4 p.m. PT

First-ever meeting between the franchises, and Golden State's first trip to Canada. The Valkyries (15-7) carry the league's longest active win streak, five games, into Coca-Cola Coliseum against a Toronto team (9-11) that has dropped two straight and three of four.

How to watch: KPIX and KPIX+ 44 in the Bay Area, KMAX 31 and KOVR 13 in Sacramento, TSN and CTV in Canada, or WNBA League Pass on Prime Video. The Audacy app has the radio call. Tipoff is 4 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Eastern.

The market expects a Valkyries win and a low-scoring one. Golden State is a 7.5-point road favorite, and the total has been bet down from 169.5 to 166.5, a move toward the under that fits a team allowing just 68 points per game during its streak. Sixty-five percent of spread tickets are sitting on Toronto, the home underdog.

Toronto's issue is in the backcourt. The Tempo were already without starter Brittney Sykes (left foot) and rookie Kiki Rice (left ankle). Point guard Julie Allemand, who leads the team in assists and steals, was a late scratch Sunday with a left ankle injury, leaving Toronto with no true point guard. "I don't like these surprises just before the game," Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said after the loss to Dallas. "It kind of hurt us because we had no point guards, and you could tell out there." Mabrey did return from neck spasms to post 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists in that defeat.

Film room: ball security against a team with no point guard

The matchup inside the matchup is turnover margin. Golden State leads the WNBA in fewest turnovers at 10.5 per game, the only team under 11. Toronto coughs it up 12.9 times a night, fifth-most. That gap should stretch tonight, when the team missing its two primary ball-handlers has to run offense by committee, the exact situation Brondello described Sunday.

Golden State's profile during the five-game streak is the league's best defensive rating, 92.1, three points better than the next-closest team, while allowing only 68 points per game, 11 fewer than anyone else. The offense ranks just 12th in scoring at 82 points, but it is first in made threes (10.7 per game) and first in fewest turnovers, so it rarely beats itself. Toronto is the inverse: third in scoring at 90.1 but 14th in points allowed at 91.8, a team that wants a track meet and has no defensive floor to catch it.

The Valkyries' path is the same one that held Washington to 49 on Monday. Drag the Tempo out of the 90s, force a patched-up backcourt into rushed decisions, and let the league-leading three-point volume do the scoring. If Toronto is scoring in the 60s instead of the 90s, its third-ranked offense stops mattering.

Second place is live tonight

Golden State is 15-7, a half-game back of the two 15-6 co-leaders, Las Vegas and Minnesota, as the standings race tightened overnight on Monday. The Aces are idle tonight. Both the Valkyries and the Lynx play, and the math is direct: a Golden State win in Toronto plus a Minnesota loss in Connecticut moves the Valkyries past the Lynx into second, a half-game behind Las Vegas.

It is not far-fetched. Connecticut is 5-16, last in the league, and the Sun just beat Minnesota 90-89 on Monday at Target Center, the Lynx's second straight loss. Minnesota gets the Sun again tonight, this time in Connecticut, while also playing without Miles, the rookie All-Star starter who is day-to-day with a right calf strain pending imaging.

Tracking the race

Reeve's record watch. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve is still tied with Mike Thibault at 379 regular-season wins, the WNBA career mark, after losses in each of her first two attempts. Her third shot comes tonight at Connecticut. "It's become a distraction," Reeve said last week. "One way or another, we'll win another game. We'll be able to focus on stuff again. I hate it for these guys." On Miles, Reeve said imaging is still pending: "We're kind of taking the next step of imaging and that sort of thing, and trying to get a final answer on exactly what we're dealing with."

Clark targeting a return tonight. Indiana's Caitlin Clark, out since June 24 with a back injury, said Tuesday she is "very hopeful" to play Wednesday at Los Angeles. She does not expect to play Thursday's back-to-back at Phoenix and anticipates a minutes restriction. "Very hopeful for tomorrow," Clark told reporters. "I would assume I'd be on a minutes restriction, still hopeful of a little bit more than 20 if I'm able to go." Fever coach Stephanie White was more cautious, saying the medical staff still has to clear her. Indiana beat Las Vegas 84-68 on Sunday without Clark, behind 27 from Kelsey Mitchell, and sits 12-8, 2.5 back.

Wilson still out. Las Vegas star A'ja Wilson, the MVP favorite and an All-Star starter, remains listed as out with a leg injury, with an estimated return around July 9. The Aces are idle tonight and next host Indiana on July 12. A healthy Wilson reshapes the top of the standings the moment she returns.

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