The race for the WNBA playoffs this season is going to be special. After surprising the league with a playoff appearance in their debut season, the Valkyries are shocking the W again, sitting half a game behind the top seed heading into Wednesday’s action. The Tempo are looking to copy Golden State’s formula by making the playoffs in their inaugural season and are close to the eighth seed. The stakes make this great matchup all the more exciting.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Valkyries are 7.5-point road favorites with -310 Moneyline odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. A Tempo upset is priced at +250 with the game total set at O/U 168.5 points.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Valkyries-Tempo game.
Valkyries vs. Tempo Preview
This win streak for the Valkyries has been awfully impressive. During their five-game streak, Golden State has knocked off the Liberty, Mystics, and the Dream three times; all three of those squads are currently in the playoff picture. Of course, the charge is being led by the defense. In those five games, Golden State has allowed point totals of 83, 75, 67, 66 and 49, good for an average of 68 PPG. When they get locked in on the defensive side of the floor, they can wipe any offense off the board.
Still, consistent offense remains an issue. Kayla Thornton has taken a significant step backwards after her All-Star 2025 campaign. Veronica Burton continues to be inefficient inside the arc, as does Gabby Williams. Kiah Stokes is one heck of a defender and a solid enough screener, but offers little to nothing in the scoring department. Without Janelle Salaün’s exceptional bench scoring, Golden State would be far worse than the current middle-of-the-pack numbers. Perhaps a date with the Tempo can help fix that.
Defense has not been the calling card of these Toronto Tempo. The only team that you can definitely say is worse defensively is the Los Angeles Sparks, who are firmly in “worst defense of all time” conversations. It’s been a significant issue all season, and has been worse during their skid where the Tempo have lost six of their last eight. Toronto has allowed 86+ points in all eight games for an average of 95.9 PPG. That’s not a winning formula in this league.
The only reason that Toronto remains competitive is the backcourt. Both Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey are averaging over 20 PPG on the season, and do so in very different ways. Mabrey is one of the best pull-up shooters in the game, while Sykes brings a relentless downhill game to the offense. Both have done a respectable job at getting their teammates involved, but if those two don’t have it going, the rest of the team has an awfully hard time picking up the slack.
Valkyries vs. Tempo Pick, Best Bet
Plain and simple, predicting this game is not very hard. Golden State is hot, while Toronto is cold. The Valkyries bring elite defense and a consistent offensive identity, while the Tempo do not. Defense travels, as they say, and the Valkyries will make life awfully hard on the Tempo’s backcourt players. By the end of the day, we might look up and see the Valkyries on top of the WNBA standings.
