Valkyries vs. Fire: Kayla Thornton's 5 Threes Fuel Franchise-Record 18 3-Pointers in 95-77 Win

If you went for nachos at Chase Center on Tuesday night, you missed a Valkyries three. If you went back for more nachos, you missed two more. Golden State made 18 of them, a franchise record, and turned a Commissioner's Cup game into a shooting exhibition.

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Portland Fire 95-77, with Kayla Thornton knocking down five of those threes on her way to 19 points and eight rebounds. Eight different Valkyries connected from deep in front of 18,064. "In Ballhalla, anytime you score, they go crazy and I think that amps us up even more," Thornton said, and on this night the crowd got plenty of reps.

Thornton Goes First, Everybody Follows

Thornton scored nine of her team's first 11 points, including three threes, and had 11 by the end of the first quarter. Portland hung in anyway. It was only 21-20 after one, and the two teams were both 10 for 20 from the field at one point. The difference, even then, was the math: the Valkyries had made 7 of 13 threes by the time they opened a 33-25 lead.

Then the second quarter happened. Juste Jocyte started the period with back-to-back threes, and a 16-2 run later on stretched a three-point lead all the way to 17. The centerpiece was a four-point play from Cecilia Zandalasini, who drained a three while Bridget Carleton was whistled for a Flagrant 1 with 3:26 left. Golden State kept the ball, Kiah Stokes hit another three on the extra possession, and Gabby Williams followed with a steal and a score. The Valkyries won the quarter 35-16 and led 56-36 at the break after shooting 52.2% from deep.

Portland did not fold. Golden State pushed the lead to 22 with an 8-0 run in the third, and Kaitlyn Chen beat the horn with an off-balance layup to make it 74-56. But the Fire opened the fourth on an 11-1 run and got within eight at 75-67. That's as far as it went. The Valkyries won the rest of the game 20-10, including an 8-0 burst capped by Janelle Salaun's 26-footer that made it 88-70.

Who Did What

Thornton finished 6 of 13 overall and 5 of 10 from three, tying her season high in points. Four of the threes came before halftime, and the team says this is the first time in her career she has hit at least four in consecutive games. "I think KT [Kayla Thornton] did a great job leading tonight," coach Natalie Nakase said.

Salaun gave Golden State 18 off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting with three threes of her own, and Veronica Burton might have had the most impressive night of anyone. She came in listed as questionable with a bruised right quadriceps from Sunday's loss to Las Vegas, then played nearly 23 minutes and put up 10 points and nine assists, went 2 for 2 from three and finished plus-22. Two of those assists came on the back-to-back threes from Thornton and Salaun that buried Portland's last push. Zandalasini added nine points and four steals, Stokes had six points, five rebounds and three blocks, and Chen scored nine on 3-of-4 shooting.

Portland's production was spread around. Megan DiLeo had 13 points and eight rebounds, Emily Engstler 12 and eight, and Carleton and Teja Oblak 11 apiece, with Oblak making 5 of 6 off the bench. Carla Leite had her own subplot. Taken by the Fire in the expansion draft after last season in Golden State, she got a tribute video in her first game back and responded with 10 points, seven assists and 6-of-6 shooting at the line.

Thirty-Five in a Quarter

The turning point isn't hard to find: Golden State 35, Portland 16, second quarter. Before that stretch, the franchise had never reached double-digit threes in a half. It got to 12 by the break, which the team says fell one short of a WNBA record. Nakase's explanation was less mystical than the numbers. "I think when our defense kind of creates transition, then we can flow into these open threes because it's hard to match up to us when we're maintaining space," she said.

That tracks with the box score. Golden State turned 15 Portland giveaways into 19 points while coughing it up just seven times itself. Stops became pace, pace became open shooters, and open shooters became a line in the franchise record book. Thornton's early rhythm mattered too, because once a defense starts sprinting at the corners, everybody else gets a cleaner look.

Numbers Worth Framing

• 18-9: Threes made, a 27-point advantage.
• 19-4: Golden State's edge in points off turnovers.
• 35-16: That second quarter.
• 38-26: Portland's edge in the paint, on a night both teams shot 46% from the field. It didn't matter.
• 25-19: Golden State in assists, with Burton's nine leading the way.

Bounce Back, Then a Road Test

Golden State moves to 6-3 and 4-2 at home, and Sunday's 91-81 defeat against Las Vegas, the defending WNBA champion, is in the rearview. Next comes a two-game road swing, Thursday at Minnesota and Saturday back against the Aces, so the Valkyries will find out quickly whether the shooting travels.

Portland falls to 6-5 and 2-2 on the road. The Fire had won four of five coming in, so this isn't a crisis, just a rough night against a team that couldn't miss for long stretches. They go home to host Phoenix on Friday.

NBA Jam Rules

There's a certain comedy in a team called the Fire getting torched from deep. NBA Jam would have set the ball ablaze somewhere around Thornton's third three, and the announcer would have been hoarse by halftime. Golden State is only in its second season, so franchise records are still lying around for the taking. This one took eight shooters, a quad-bruised Burton and a crowd that refused to sit still, and it will be a while before anybody in Ballhalla forgets how easy it looked.

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