SAN FRANCISCO – Spiritually, the Golden State Valkyries' regular-season home finale was actually the previous game, when the Valkyries clinched a historic playoff birth in a come-from-behind win. In their actual final home game of the season, the Valkyries' five-game winning streak came to a grinding halt in their 78-72 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

While the Valkyries kept the game close all the way through, the Lynx demonstrated why they are the team to beat in the WNBA. After Golden State took a seven-point lead in the third quarter, Minnesota's backcourt duo of Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman caught fire. The StudBudz scored 16 of the Lynx's 30 third-quarter points, giving them a sizable nine-point lead going into the fourth.

The Valkyries rallied in the fourth with Veronica Burton and Iliana Rupert stringing together some clutch baskets to cut the deficit down to 74-72 with 45.8 seconds left in the game. But enter MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier. The Lynx found her flared out on the baseline after setting a pindown, where she buried the game-deciding dagger. Collier finished with 20 points and five rebounds.

While every game has been must-win, as Natalie Nakase has emphasized, in the Valkyries' chase for a playoff spot, Golden State got a real taste of what postseason basketball will feel like. So while the stakes of this game weren't as high as the previous one, there is a lot to take away from the Valkyries' narrow loss to the Lynx.

Transition defense has to be better

If there's one thing that has hurt the Valkyries this season against the elite of the elite, it's their transition defense. Looking back to losses versus the Phoenix Mercury, Las Vegas Aces, and even Minnesota earlier this season, these elite teams have a way of unwinding Golden State's stingy defense by pushing the pace. And in this game, that's exactly what got the StudBudz going, according to Nakase.

“Transition,” Nakase said. “I think we hung our heads a little bit, and then in transition, they were just getting open looks. We've got to sprint back. We've got to communicate. I think that our lack of communication in transition was super poor.”

Golden State is the slowest team in the WNBA when it comes to pace. They actually prefer to limit the number of possessions each team gets. Nakase herself said it's so as not to burn their stamina down, but it also fits their relentless defensive identity. But these elite teams have found ways to speed the Valkyries.

In Minnesota's case, it was Hiedeman running to the open spot on the fast break and Williams pulling up in transition after pushing the ball. Hiedeman finished with 24 points on six made triples while Williams finished with 14 points.

Kaila Charles and the spacing were working

Cracking the Minnesota defense with ball movement and spacing was a big emphasis for Nakase headed into this matchup. It's necessary when it comes to beating their lightning-fast rotations, and something they weren't able in their previous matchup. In this game, they were able to for the most part, and it began with Kaila Charles.

Charles was aggressive to start the game. She hunted the size differential between her and Williams to great success, collecting 10 of her 15 points in the first half. In her postgame press conference, she talked about what was working for her offensively.

“Just playing my game. My teammates were finding me. I wasn't necessarily settling, I was trying to get to the rim and finish,” Charles said. “They gave me the confidence to just kind of keep shooting even when they were going in and out in the second half.”

For Nakase, Charles' success offensively was also indicative of the quality of the Valkyries' spacing, which is something they weren't as solid with earlier in the season.

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“We had very disciplined spacing tonight where they're able to have gaps,” Nakase said. When we don't have good spacing, now we're almost kind of defending ourselves. Credit to the whole team for being on the same string. Then when Kaila saw gaps, she attacked. Credit to her for being confident. Her teammates respecting her space. But we're always taking quality shots, making the right reads. That's the epitome of our offense, and I thought we did a fantastic job doing that.”

The final two games matter (kinda…)

The Valkyries need one more win to lock up the sixth seed in the playoffs. They'll face the Lynx one more time for the regular-season finale, but more importantly, the Seattle Storm loom on Tuesday.

The winner of Valkyries-Storm will essentially decide who gets the tiebreaker between the two of them, which would factor into the seeding should Golden State lose out and the Indiana Fever win out. In that scenario, the Valkyries would drop to eighth in the conference, meaning a first-round matchup with the Lynx.

That would not be ideal for Golden State, given how tough Minnesota has been for them this season. It's in their best interest to come out of Seattle with a win to avoid slipping that far altogether. But in the grand scheme of the playoffs, health and rest matter more than seeding.

“We've had so many games in not a lot of days. So just really rest our bodies, and we got to go to Seattle with a win mentality.” Iliana Rupert said after the game when asked about the emphasis moving forward.

“Just finishing the regular season the best way possible. Try to gain as much confidence as possible before stepping in the playoffs. Especially because we have no idea who we're going to play against. So we’ve got to be ready for everything.”

It's something Nakase also hinted at before the game. She told reporters she wants to prioritize rest but also balance it with keeping the team in rhythm.

“Right now … it's rhythm,” Nakase said. “We gotta make sure we're healthy. That's the priority … and making sure we have great rhythm within our units. Those are my keys right now as we try to stay present.”