​For the first few minutes, the Golden State Valkyries looked like a team struck by the mountain’s height. This wasn’t just the franchise’s first playoff game in Chase Center, their beloved Ballhalla. It was also the Valkyries’ first postseason game as championship hopefuls. As the hunted.They missed nine of their first 13 shots. Paige Bueckers started the game looking ready to dominate for the Dallas Wings. It was enough for nerves to turn into doubt.But then Tiffany Hayes checked in. Almost immediately, she got a steal and a fast-break layup. A couple of minutes later, she drilled a corner 3. Then she put her head down and got all the way to the rim for another layup.Hayes provided a boost of energy. Of urgency. The 37-year-old who drinks water and minds her business sparked the Valkyries. Just a little fire was all it took. Golden State detonated the Wings, 104-80, to take Game 1 of this first-round best-of-three series.“She’s just unguardable,” Gabby Williams said of Hayes. “And I think just watching someone give us that boost of energy off of the bench, that’s part of our identity. Knowing I can play as hard as I can when I’m on the court because as soon as someone else comes in, we have another burst; and that’s just what we’ve hung our hat on all season is our depth. Tip is one of the all-time greats in this league, and so just watching her get going, I think we all feed off of her.”The message Hayes sent with her play matched what she’s been telling her team for months now:Believe.She’s implored them to invest psychologically, emotionally, in the possibility they can be champions. They weren’t just a cute story anymore. While most have spent the better part of this season ignoring the Valkyries, Hayes grew convinced they are no longer a charming expansion joyride destined to end with a round of appreciative applause.“Don’t think because we’re new, this isn’t what it is,” Hayes said. “We’ve got the right pieces. We’ve got the people. We do the right things. We are getting taught the right things from the right people as well. So don’t think this is something where we’re supposed to only go to a certain spot. We ain’t got no ceiling for real.”One win doesn’t procure a title. The Valkyries will certainly face much more resistance than Dallas offered Sunday. But a win like that can affirm a team’s capacity and drown out remnants of doubt.Hayes’ first-quarter burst sent the Valkyries into the second quarter with a 21-20 lead. It felt like a close game brewed as Bueckers — 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first quarter — seemed capable of something special.But Hayes had already ignited the Valkyries. The explosion came in the second quarter. Golden State made seven 3s in the period, two by Cecilia Zandalasini, who found a groove against the gentle Dallas defense. She outscored the Wings 12-11 in the quarter.“She has another level,” coach Natalie Nakase said of the one they