A tied series and a scheduling clash
The WNBA Finals are level at 2-2 between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, and a calendar problem is now sitting on top of the basketball. Game 5 is Monday in San Francisco. Whoever wins it can clinch the title in Game 6 on Thursday in Atlanta, and nobody has confirmed where that game will be played.
The Dream’s regular home, Gateway Center, holds about 3,500 people. State Farm Arena, which has hosted Atlanta’s playoff games, holds about 17,000 and sold out Games 3 and 4 of the Finals. Thursday night is the catch. The Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to host the Cleveland Cavaliers there.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Why the usual fix may not work
The league has solved this before. For Games 3 and 4 it changed start times, and Game 4 was moved to 1 p.m. local so the Hawks could host the Houston Rockets later that day.
That trick looks unlikely for a weekday. Game 6 is set for 8 p.m. local on USA Network, and a doubleheader with an NBA game is hard to build on a Thursday.
The other route is a new date, with a potential Game 7 falling on Saturday. According to Front Office Sports, that decision does not belong to the WNBA alone. USA Network, as the broadcaster, must agree, and the visiting Valkyries also have a say.
Discover the rest of our WNBA news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply