After a rough first half, the Phoenix Mercury tightened up their defense after the break and picked up a vital road win against the shorthanded Golden State Valkyries.

San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami went to Sunday’s Valkyries game and reported on the fan atmosphere at Chase Center, which he said was “thrumming” even in the team’s worst home loss of the season. But buried in his reporting were two paragraphs about a brewing scheduling conflict with the Laver Cup, an international tennis tournament:

It’s beginning to feel a lot like the postseason. The WNBA has less than one month before the start of the playoffs, and the intensity kicked up a notch last week. Whether it was teams recognizing how little time is left to solidify playoff positioning or the aided boost of Rivals Week matchups,

The Golden State Valkyries are amid a potential historic run to the WNBA Playoffs. Should they finish top-eight in the standings, Golden State would become the

The game is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on NBA TV. Fans looking to watch this WNBA game can do so for free by using DIRECTV, which offers a free trial. FuboTV offers up to $30 off your first month. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available.

Playing the last-place Connecticut Sun, the Valkyries got off to a sluggish start Monday night but caught fire in the third quarter to cruise to a 74-57 win. Golden State shot 10-of-22 from the 3-point line in the second half and made 13 3s overall in a dominant win.

This could result in scheduling conflicts between the WNBA postseason and the tennis tournament, according to a report by Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard. The Valkyries would likely have to maneuver around the Laver Cup in order to host games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, which begin on September 16.

The Valkyries are the biggest surprise of the 2025 WNBA season, but a few key adjustments could seal their first-ever playoff berth.