At present, the Valkyries are set up for the playoffs

Where are her feet right now? On the verge of the WNBA playoffs.

“Be present and not look too far ahead,” Nakase said. “As a coaching staff, we don’t talk about what could happen tomorrow or what could happen with other teams. We talk about ourselves, what we can control.”

With five games to go in their inaugural season, the Valkyries are actually in quite a bit of control. A playoff spot – the first ever for a WNBA expansion franchise in its first season – is on the line and now looks to be in the cards after an impressive weekend in Ballhalla.

A dominant 99-62 win over Washington on Saturday night, eliminating the Mystics from the playoff picture and setting the franchise record for margin of victory, was followed by a 75-61 win over injury riddled Indiana (with Caitlin Clark sitting on the bench in street clothes) on Sunday at the Chase Centers sets Golden State up in the final stretch.

“If you look too far ahead or you start thinking too far ahead, you aren’t in the moment. You can’t be fully where you are and give you all,” said Valkyries guard Kate Martin, who finished with 10 points and 3-for-3 shooting from the 3-point line. “We never look ahead. We stay game by game.”

Sunday’s match against the Fever was frankly a mess of a game, with a 25-minute stoppage at one point due to a malfunctioning clock and multiple other delays, not including replay reviews. The first 20 minutes of basketball took 100 minutes to play.

And it was initially disruptive to a Valkyries team that hit 9 of its first 10 three-pointers with 8:31 left in the second quarter and saw Indiana cut a once-20- point lead down to five points in the fourth quarter.

But playing stellar defense to limit Aliyah Boston to four points and Kelsey Mitchell to just four field goals, and getting 21 points from Iliana Rupert, including five 3-pointers, Golden State won comfortably and took another step toward the postseason.

“We couldn’t control what happened today and I actually told the players that it’s a credit to their maturity level,” Nakase said. “They could have gotten distracted. They could have gotten frustrated…so much credit to our players, just the maturity level they showed today and they had each other’s backs.”

Golden State’s magic number – the combination of Golden State wins and Los Angeles losses to secure a playoff spot – sits at three after the Sparks kept their playoff hopes alive with an 81-78 win over Washington.

Nakase didn’t know what a magic number was when asked about it Sunday and she doesn’t seem to care.

“That’s Vegas stuff,” Nakase chuckled. “I don’t know if the other teams are going to lose. I stay focused on us.”

Yet looking ahead isn’t the worst thing ever.

Golden State has three more home games in a row against New York, Dallas and Minnesota. The Valkyries haven’t beaten either the Liberty or the Lynx this season.

The home stand is a place to make a stand as veterans Monique Billings, Cecilia Zandalasini and Tiffany Hayes prepare to return to the lineup. Nakase called them “day to day”. Billings has missed 18 games this season and has been out since uly 25 with an ankle injury. Zandalasini has been out of the lineup since August 24 with a left calf injury. Hayes has missed the last three games with a knee injury and illness.

“They look better and better so I’m being super hopeful,” Nakase said. “I’m not going to play them unless they feel 100 percent.”

Having a full stocked roster will be a bonus to a team that has managed to win seven of their last 10 games and found an offensive sweet spot.

Golden State’s 63.2 percent from beyond the arc was a season-high Sunday, following up Saturday’s nearly triple-digit outburst against the Mystics.

“We’ve had some injuries and playing missing, but I think everyone has stepped up,” Rupert said. “We knew that we had to if we wanted to make the playoffs…We have an amazing team where everybody can play, and everybody can bring something and we see that game after game. Obviously, the chemistry is building.”

While getting in the playoffs is obviously the goal, finishing in the eighth spot and avoiding a first-round matchup with the Lynx would be optimal. Finishing as high as No. 6 would get Golden State a potential first-round matchup against Phoenix in a three-game series with a healthier roster that includes Billings, Hayes and Zandalasini.

With three games left against New York and Minnesota (2) – teams that Golden State hasn’t been able to beat this season – the other games all have to be considered must-wins. Los Angeles has six games to go, five of those games against teams that are playoff-bound.

“We are not in the playoffs yet,” Nakase said.

The success of the weekend guarantees nothing, especially with three games against title-contending teams in the final five.

“There is absolutely zero carryover,” Nakase said. “There is zero carryover on deflections, zero carryover on made baskets, nothing. It’s always a brand new game.

“My job as a head coach is to get their minds right, to get them focused and understand that every game is a must-win.”