Lynx vs. Valkyries: Nia Brodie's 22 and Courtney Williams' 21 Snap Golden State's Four-Game Win Streak

Two nights after setting a WNBA rookie record with 24 first-half points, Olivia Miles went to San Francisco and could not buy a basket. She missed her first eight shots and finished 1-of-10. Then, with the game on the line, she calmly made two free throws and blocked Cecilia Zandalasini's 3-point try anyway, which tells you most of what you need to know about how the Lynx are built.

Nia Brodie scored 22, Courtney Williams had 21 points and a season-best 12 rebounds, and the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx beat the Golden State Valkyries 81-75 on Friday night at Chase Center, snapping the home team's four-game winning streak in front of 18,064.

A 12-Point Lead With a Short Shelf Life

For most of the first half, this was Golden State's party. Zandalasini scored the Valkyries' first five points, they led 22-16 after one quarter, and they were up 46-34 with 38.8 seconds left in the second, with Miles headed for a career-low two points in the first half. Facing her former team, Zandalasini tied her career high for first-half points with 14.

Then the wheels wobbled. Minnesota scored the last seven points of the half to make it 46-41, added a quick three after intermission, and turned a 12-point deficit into a two-point game before the third quarter was a minute old. The Lynx won that quarter 22-16 and took a 63-62 lead into the fourth.

Miles finally got one to fall with 6:56 left, a three-point play that made it 71-64. Gabby Williams answered with a 3 at the 6:06 mark, and it was 73-68 after a Laeticia Amihere free throw, but Brodie's driving layup off a Miles feed pushed the lead back to seven with 2:51 to play. Golden State was not done. Janelle Salaun scored on a tip, Veronica Burton hit two free throws, and Zandalasini buried a 24-footer with 21.8 seconds left to make it 77-75. Chase Center got loud. Miles made two at the line, swatted Zandalasini's next look from deep, and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu hit two more to end the argument.

Brodie and Williams Do the Grown-Up Work

With their rookie star off the mark, the Lynx needed someone to run the offense through, and they got two someones. Brodie was terrific at 7-of-11, including 3-of-4 from 3, and she added six rebounds and went 5-of-6 at the line. Williams was everywhere else: 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, 7-of-7 on free throws, 2-of-2 from 3 and not one foul in 36 minutes. Kayla McBride was the quiet third leg with 17 on 7-of-12, and Natasha Howard gave them 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists before fouling out.

Miles deserves a closer look, too, because the 1-of-10 only tells part of it. She committed six turnovers and missed all four of her 3s, but she also collected three blocks, three steals, five rebounds and four assists, and made all five of her free throws. A bad shooting night from a player who can still affect a game this many ways is exactly the sort of thing that keeps a team at the top of the league.

Zandalasini's 23 points were a career high, and they came on 7-of-15 shooting with four 3s after five straight games without one. "I was proud of the way they competed," Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. Gabby Williams had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Salaun added 15 and six boards, though they each needed 16 shots to get there.

The shot diet was the story underneath the story. Minnesota attempted only 13 3s, got to the line 23 times and scored 38 in the paint. Golden State aimed more than half of its 74 shots from behind the arc and shot 35 percent overall, and a team living that way needs more than one hot hand to survive a game like this.

The Turning Point: 38.8 Seconds Before the Break

Golden State led for 55 percent of the game, and nearly all of that good work came undone in the final moments of the second quarter. Two fouls on 3-point attempts proved expensive, and a 10-0 Lynx run bridged halftime and changed the whole temperature of the night. Instead of protecting a double-digit lead, Golden State spent the second half playing from even, and a team that needed 40 3-point attempts to stay close never got clean separation again.

Stats That Matter

• 12-of-40: Golden State from 3, at 30 percent. Minnesota took just 13 and made six of them.
• 21-of-23: The Lynx at the free-throw line, against 11-of-17 for the Valkyries.
• 38-22: Minnesota's edge in the paint, with Golden State living on the perimeter.
• 9 blocks: Minnesota's total, with Miles leading the way at three.

What It Means

The Lynx are 13-3, a ridiculous 7-1 on the road, and winners of three straight since their June 13 loss in Las Vegas. They host Washington on Sunday. This also makes two wins in two tries against the Valkyries this season, after an 87-84 result on June 4, and Golden State's own site notes that the franchise has yet to beat Minnesota.

The Valkyries fall to 10-6 and 7-3 at home, and the team recorded its 32nd consecutive regular-season sellout in the process. A trip to Las Vegas waits on Sunday, so there is not much time to sulk.

"I'm lucky I have 14 players that love basketball, that love to be coached hard, that love to be challenged and they take responsibility. But it's my job to make things a little bit cleaner and to clean up the mistakes," Nakase said.

Golden State's Final Boss

Every good video game eventually hands you a boss you cannot beat. By the team's own account, the Lynx are the only WNBA opponent the Valkyries have played and never defeated. On Friday, the boss showed up with its best weapon jammed at 1-of-10 and won anyway. That is the most annoying thing about a final boss: there is always another phase.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Postgame quotes and team notes from the Golden State Valkyries.