Clark came in averaging north of 28 points per game this stretch of the season. Burton made that number irrelevant. This wasn't a scheme that hid Clark in a zone or funneled her into help defenders — Burton took the assignment straight up, fought through screens, and made Clark work for every touch. That's a repeatable skill. That's something you can build a playoff identity around.

The bigger tactical development is the closing lineup. Golden State found a five-player unit that can hold a lead in the fourth quarter — which, for a franchise that spent its early years leaking points down the stretch, is not a minor thing. One coherent closing group with defensive integrity is worth more than 48 minutes of offensive creativity if you can't protect a six-point lead.