Ten Finals games, ten defeats: that was the Atlanta Dream’s record on the WNBA’s biggest stage until Monday night. In San Francisco the drought finally ended. A 79-65 victory over the Golden State Valkyries means the title series now stands at one game each.
Angel Reese was the difference, scoring 30 and pulling down 16 rebounds while hitting ten of her 16 attempts; she also blocked two shots. That puts her in exclusive company: before her, only two players, Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones and Seattle’s Breanna Stewart, had combined at least 30 points with 15 boards in a Finals game. Reese, who arrived from Chicago in a trade before the season and is the reigning top defender in the league, had gone scoreless after half-time in the 68-64 opener and took that personally. Afterwards she admitted she felt she had failed her teammates in that first game.
The game turned on defence. Atlanta led only 39-37 at the break, then ran away with it during a 13-minute stretch across the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the hosts 30-8. Rhyne Howard picked off six passes, more than anyone before her in a Finals game. In total the hosts coughed up possession 19 times, and Atlanta cashed in for 24 points. Allisha Gray chipped in 18, and Jordin Canada ran the offence with ten assists to go with 13 points of her own.
For the Valkyries, who only joined the league last year and sell out Chase Center every night, it was a rare off night. Barely a third of their attempts went in, and Gabby Williams, so dominant in the opener, needed 15 shots for 14 points. Point guard Veronica Burton admitted the team had missed looks it normally converts.
Back in Georgia, the third and fourth games are being staged not in the Dream’s small regular arena but in the Hawks’ State Farm Arena, which seats far more fans. Reese has already urged the home crowd to turn out in force.
