A Finals game that played like a street fight
Golden State needed 64 points. That was plenty. The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 64-55 on Monday night in San Francisco and now lead the WNBA Finals 3-2, one win from a first championship for a franchise that only joined the league in 2025.
The basketball was ugly, and the Valkyries were happy to keep it that way. Both teams combined to shoot 18-for-67 in the first half, the lowest-scoring opening half in WNBA playoff history, and Golden State carried just a 46-42 lead into the fourth quarter.
Then Gabby Williams got a three-point play and the game tilted. Golden State ripped off a 16-4 run to go up seven with 9:08 left. Kiah Stokes hit her third three of the night at 7:21 to make it 10, and Atlanta never got closer than nine.
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Stokes and Burton set the tone on defense
Stokes finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and she held Angel Reese to seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. It was her sixth straight game with at least three blocks, which ties the WNBA postseason record Lisa Leslie set in 2003. Veronica Burton added 13 points, eight boards and four blocks, matching Diana Taurasi’s 2009 Finals mark for a guard in a single game. Tiffany Hayes and Cecilia Zandalasini scored 12 apiece, and Williams had nine.
Atlanta shot 29.2 percent and went 6-for-26 from deep. Its 55 points were only eight more than the Finals record low, the 47 the 1999 New York Liberty scored in a loss to Houston. Rhyne Howard led everyone with 20, Jordin Canada had 12 and Allisha Gray 10. Reese pulled down 15 rebounds, and Naz Hillmon grabbed 11.
Golden State shot 39.3 percent and went 6-for-24 from three, numbers that would sink most teams. Not this series. Game 6 is Thursday afternoon in Atlanta, and neither franchise has ever won a title.
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