WNBA Preview | August 4, 2026
One game on Tuesday's slate, and it's the second half of a home-and-home. Toronto returns to Chase Center just two days after Golden State beat them there, still searching for any traction in a five-game losing streak that has all but ended the Tempo's inaugural playoff hopes. Here's what to watch.
Tempo Return to Chase Center Looking to Snap a Five-Game Skid
Toronto Tempo @ Golden State Valkyries | 9:00 PM ET | WNBA League Pass
This is a rematch in the truest sense. Golden State and Toronto played Sunday at Chase Center, with the Valkyries winning, and now they run it back at the same building two nights later. Toronto's five-game losing streak includes four straight games allowing 100 or more points, a genuinely alarming defensive stretch for a first-year franchise that sits 13th at 10-19, effectively out of playoff position with the top eight taken league-wide.
Golden State's defense has been the story of their season, leading the league by allowing just 76.9 points per game and holding opponents to 42.5 percent shooting. Gabby Williams is playing through a reconditioning designation but has been available, and the Valkyries have shown remarkable depth even on nights when their leading scorer is limited, getting contributions from six or more players in double figures. Toronto's own injury situation compounds the problem: Brittney Sykes remains out, and the Tempo have gone just 2-3 in her absence after she was averaging over 20 points a game before going down.
DraftKings has Golden State as a massive favorite, in the 12.5 to 13.5 range, with the total sitting in the high 160s, one of the lower numbers of the week. Golden State has won five straight by an average of over 8 points, comfortably covering similar spreads throughout the stretch, and Toronto's defense has been actively getting worse over the same period. Lean Golden State big.
Toronto wins if the Tempo's offense, which has actually been productive even during the losing streak, finally gets enough defensive stops to make the game competitive, their role players not named Mabrey step up in Sykes's continued absence, and Golden State shows any signs of a letdown in the second game of a home-and-home they already won.
Golden State wins if the Valkyries' league-best defense continues suffocating an already-struggling Toronto offense, their bench depth again produces the kind of balanced scoring that has defined their five-game winning streak, and Golden State treats Tuesday as a formality after Sunday's result.
PICK
GSV -12.5
O/U 168.5
Under ↓
Valkyries win and cover behind the league's best defense.
What to Watch For Tonight.
Toronto's defensive collapse over the last five games, four straight allowing triple digits, is the number that matters most heading into the rematch. Golden State's league-best defense against an offense that has actually held up reasonably well during the skid is the matchup worth tracking, since a competitive first half would say more about Toronto's ceiling than the standings currently suggest. With roughly 14 games left across the league, this is effectively playoff-elimination basketball for a Tempo team that came into the season with real postseason ambitions in its inaugural year.