Game 6 finds a home
The scheduling knot is untied. According to ESPN, Game 6 of the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries will be played Thursday at State Farm Arena, with tip-off set for 12:30 p.m. ET.
The reason for the early start is simple. The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks host the Cleveland Cavaliers in the same building at 8 p.m. ET that night, so the Finals game has to clear out first. It is the same doubleheader format used last Saturday, when the Valkyries won Game 4 there, 67-62, in the afternoon to level the series.
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Why the matinee matters
Without a deal to use the Hawks’ arena, which seats about 17,000, the Dream would have had to move the game to the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. That would have cut the crowd to a fraction of what Games 3 and 4 drew.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert called the sellouts and the atmosphere for those two games a “tremendous success” and thanked the NBA, both clubs, the Hawks, the arena and USA Network for making a third night possible.
The series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is Monday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco, and the Chase Center would host Game 7 on Saturday if the Finals go the distance.
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