The Golden State Valkyries came into Game 4 of the WNBA Finals trailing 2-1 and needing a spark. They got it, beating the Atlanta Dream 67-62 on Saturday to tie the series at 2-2. A big part of the win came from a choice HC Natalie Nakase made about who would play. The Athletic reported that Golden State had gone deeper into its rotation than any other playoff team this season, but Nakase cut it down to seven players for Game 4, and she explained why after the game.

“We just did what it took to win. Again, we have egoless players that understand we’re trying to win. We’re trying to do what’s best for the team, and just credit to our team…” Nakase said.

That was a big change for this group. During the regular season, the Valkyries had 10 players getting double-digit minutes on a nightly basis, and no one averaged more than 30 minutes a game. Golden State used 11 players in the first quarter of this series, while Atlanta mostly leaned on seven.

The bench was a big part of that approach before Game 4. Laeticia Amihere, Kaila Charles, Kaitlyn Chen and Tiffany Hayes had each averaged double-digit minutes off the bench in the first two Finals games.

In Game 2, Kiah Stokes was the only Valkyrie to play more than 26 minutes. Golden State was outscored by 18 points when Hayes was on the court and by 19 when Charles was. Games 2 and 3 then went badly. The Valkyries lost by 14 and 26 points and turned the ball over more than 30 times combined. 

Game 4 looked very different. Amihere and Aminata Gueye were taken out of the rotation, and Janelle Salaün and Chen played fewer than five minutes combined. Only seven Valkyries played 17 minutes or more.

Salaün is the first player to win Sixth Player of the Year unanimously and averaged 22 minutes in the regular season, but she had been down to about four a game through the start of the Finals.

Nakase also changed her starting five for the first time this postseason, putting Hayes and Charles in for Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini. The moves made sense on paper, too. Thornton had been held scoreless in two games this series, and Zandalasini shot 30 percent and 12.5 percent in Games 1 and 2.

Nakase said no one on her team cares who starts, and the idea of putting the team first is what she credited for making the moves work.

“…We’re about caring for each other. We’re about pouring into each other, and I think what’s really big key is they want to see success in their teammates more than themselves,” Nakase added.

That buy-in mattered, because the shorter rotation gave Atlanta very little to work with.

A Tighter Rotation Left the Dream With No Weak Spots to Attack

With seven players matched up against Atlanta’s seven, Golden State gave the Dream no weak link to attack, Sabreena Merchant wrote in The Athletic. Angel Reese had dominated the Valkyries’ backup centers earlier in the series, so Nakase did not play them.

Instead, Golden State used more zone defense whenever Stokes sat. The Dream had been involving Chen in every offensive action when she was on the floor, so she got only two minutes to start the fourth quarter, which let Veronica Burton rest before the final push.

The players who moved to the bench still made a difference. Zandalasini scored 10 points with three steals and finished plus-20, and Thornton helped limit Reese. Charles was plus-14 in 29 minutes, and Hayes added 13 points, seven of them in the fourth quarter.

The results showed up on the stat sheet. The Valkyries forced 18 turnovers and committed nine, and they took 72 shots to the Dream’s 54. Reese, who had a double-double in each of the first three games, shot 2-of-12 for eight points.

Atlanta led the league in fast-break points during the regular season, but it scored only two in this game.

Golden State now heads home for Game 5 on Monday in San Francisco with the series tied at 2-2. Whether Nakase sticks with the same seven players will be worth watching, as her group has shown it will buy into whatever role she gives them.