‘Ballhalla is part of us' and shows why in Chase Center's Valkyries playoffs debut
· Yahoo Sports
Moments before Sunday's pregame introductions, Kaitlyn Chen took matters into her own hands. She raised her arms, turned to all four sides of the arena and implored Golden State Valkyries fans to crank up the noise.
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And so launched the first WNBA playoff game at Chase Center.
Less than two hours later, after the Valkyries earned their first postseason win – any arena, any city, ever – the value of their boisterous homecourt advantage seemed abundantly clear. Golden State buried Dallas, ruthlessly rolling to a 104-80 victory in Game 1 of their first-round, best-of-three series.
The outcome and exuberant atmosphere offered a reminder to the other seven teams in the WNBA playoffs. The Valkyries no longer are a novelty, a charming expansion team surpassing expectations in its inaugural season.
Now, in Year Two, the Valkyries are a legitimate championship contender – and one big reason is their loud crowd and decided homecourt advantage.
Golden State sported a league-best 17-5 home record this season, one game better than Dallas (16-6). This matters because the Valkyries, as the No. 2 seed, are assured of homecourt advantage in this round and in the semifinals if they advance – potentially against ever-imposing Las Vegas.
"Ballhalla is part of us. They're our sixth man," head coach Natalie Nakase said before Sunday's game. "They roar when they're supposed to roar, they're hostile when they're supposed to be hostile – almost to a point where we know we're not going to be able to hear. That's why we have signals.
"But playing here is literally my dream come true, to have this type of energy. That's how we play: We fight, we punch, we're physical. So they're a part of us, and they help us with our energy."
They clearly helped in Golden State's maiden playoff game at Chase. Last year, when the Valkyries surprisingly reached the playoffs in their debut season, a scheduling conflict with the Laver Cup tennis tournament forced them to move their one home playoff game to SAP Center in San Jose. Minnesota won, eliminating the Valkyries.
This time, in their own arena, the home team leaned into its distinctive, violet-colored identity. Spectators arrived to find violet T-shirts draped over every seat, with the message "Ballhalla Loud" on the chest. The Valkyries also wore their violet uniforms.
During warmups, the giant video screen showed images throughout the crowd. One fan helped up a sign reading, "Skipping class in Canada for this." Another hoisted a sign with the message, "Win it for the Bay," with the last word amended to read "Gays." And yet another sign read, "Valkatraz," with "lock ‘em down" in smaller letters below (an ode to Golden State's league-best defense).
The ovation grew louder each time.
Before the game, in a brief interview, Chen – the popular, productive backup point guard – was asked how the crowd's perpetual noise makes a practical impact. Does it surface mostly when the Valkyries are playing defense? Or maybe in establishing an intimidating tone in the opening minutes?
"I feel like it's the whole game," Chen said. "Ballhalla in the regular season is already incredible – they bring it from before tipoff until after the game is over."
If the Valkyries can finish off the Wings, either in Game 2 on Wednesday in Dallas or back in San Francisco on Friday, then Las Vegas would probably be next. The Aces pounded Indiana in the first game of their series Sunday. The Aces would be a daunting matchup for Golden State. They feature four-time MVP A'ja Wilson, have won three of the past four WNBA titles and swept all three games this season from the Valkyries.
So starting the series at Chase Center, and potentially hosting a decisive game, could make a huge difference. Remember, the Valkyries earned the No. 2 seed ahead of Las Vegas by virtue of their stirring comeback victory over the Los Angeles Sparks in Thursday's regular-season finale.
That might come in very handy.
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