Valkyries vs. Liberty: Gabby Williams Scores 16 as Golden State Spoils Satou Sabally's Debut, 87-70

New York got the moment it wanted. Satou Sabally, New York's big free-agent prize, heard her name called at Barclays Center on Thursday night, the crowd gave her a warm welcome, and the league's highest-scoring team finally had one of its missing pieces in uniform. Then the game started, which turned out to be the problem.

Gabby Williams scored 16, five players reached double figures and the Golden State Valkyries ran the New York Liberty out of their own building 87-70. A team averaging a league-best 100 points through four games finished 30 short of that, and the final margin was generous. It was 81-57 with a little over four minutes left.

Eight Days Off, Zero Rust

Golden State had not played since a 69-63 home loss to Chicago on May 13, and rest clearly agreed with them. The second-year Valkyries were up 18-9 just over six minutes in and 25-15 after one quarter, and the Liberty, who got as far as a three-point lead early, never saw the front of this game again.

New York did throw one real punch. Down 27-17 early in the second, it scored eight in a row in just over a minute to get within 27-25, and for a moment the Barclays crowd had something to work with. Golden State steadied and took a 42-34 lead to the locker room.

The third quarter is where the door got locked. The Valkyries won it 21-12, and the end of the period was brutal. Leading 55-46 with 2:51 left, they rattled off eight straight in under two minutes and were up 63-46 going to the fourth. The Liberty matched them 24-24 in the final period, but a good chunk of that arrived long after the outcome had been filed. The late 3s from Han Xu and Rebecca Allen were nice for the box score. They were not a comeback.

Williams and Everybody Else

Williams had one of the funnier shooting lines you will see: 4 of 11 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3. Every basket she made came from behind the arc, and she went 0 of 5 inside it, and it did not matter in the slightest. She also went 4 of 6 at the line. Her 27-footer at 4:39 of the fourth made it 79-57, and she followed it by going to the line for three shots half a minute later and making two.

Her help was everywhere, which was the entire point. Veronica Burton had 13 points and seven assists and finished plus-25, the best number in the game. Kaila Charles added 13 points and seven rebounds at plus-22. Janelle Salaun gave them 12 off the bench, Kayla Thornton had 11 and two blocks, and Laeticia Amihere grabbed eight rebounds in 13 minutes. Nobody took more than 14 shots and nobody played more than 28 minutes, a nice bonus with a game in Indiana less than a day away.

The Liberty are still very much a roster under construction. Sabrina Ionescu (foot) has yet to play in the regular season, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was also out, and Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera are finishing up commitments overseas in Spain. As for Sabally, this was her first action of any kind since last season's WNBA Finals, when a concussion in Game 3 cost her the final game of that series with Phoenix. Five points on 2-of-8 shooting in 16 minutes is a soft landing, and nobody should read much into it.

Breanna Stewart did what she could with 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting, and Jonquel Jones added 16 and eight. Rebekah Gardner made 4 of 5 off the bench for 12. The rest of it was rough. Marine Johannes went 0 for 5 in 26 minutes, all of it from 3, and Julie Vanloo's eight assists came with four turnovers.

Five Turnovers, One Very Long Night

If you want the real turning point, it is not one play. It is what happened every time New York tried to get going. The Valkyries committed five player turnovers in the entire game, while the Liberty had 14, and Golden State turned those into 17 points to New York's five. An offense that had been lighting up the league kept handing the ball back and then chasing the other team the wrong way down the floor.

Add a 3-point gap that kept widening, and there was no route back. Golden State went 13 of 35. New York went 6 of 24. When a team that averaged 100 is getting outscored by 21 from deep, it needs a miracle, and the Liberty did not have one in stock.

Stats That Matter

• 5 vs. 14: Player turnovers, Valkyries against Liberty.
• 17-5: Golden State's edge in points off those giveaways.
• 13 of 35 vs. 6 of 24: The 3-point line, a 21-point swing in a 17-point game.
• 24: Golden State's largest lead. New York's biggest was three.
• 70: Liberty points, after averaging 100 in their first four games.

Where Everybody Stands

Golden State moves to 3-1 and 2-0 on the road, and it does not get to enjoy this for long. The Valkyries play at Indiana on Friday to finish a back-to-back.

New York falls to 3-2 and 1-1 at home, with its other loss a 98-96 decision at Portland. This was the Liberty's first home defeat of the season. Dallas visits on Sunday, and with any luck New York will have a little more of its roster to work with soon.

The New Cast Member Got Upstaged

Everyone came to Brooklyn for the premiere of the big new addition, the star signing who was going to make an already stacked ensemble even scarier. It is hard to do that when half the ensemble is still on another set. Golden State, a second-year show with no such hype, walked in and stole the episode, passing the ball around like a cast that has actually read the script. New York will get its full roster eventually. On Thursday, the spotlight belonged to the other team.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press.