The Golden State Valkyries returned to Ballhalla on Monday night for Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. And they depart San Francisco on the precipice of history.
After 40 minutes of grueling defensive action, the Valkyries emerged with an emphatic 64-55 victory over the Atlanta Dream, giving them a 3-2 series lead, and putting them one win away from glory in just their second season.
The adjustments that Golden State made after losing Games 2 and 3 were emblematic of their season, and Natalie Nakase’s coaching
philosophy. In those games, the Valkyries played good defense, but simply could not score. Nakase’s approach to fixing that? Focus on improving the good defense, and turning it into great defense.
Mission accomplished. Golden State allowed 162 points in Games 2 and 3; they gave up just 117 in Games 4 and 5. They forced 24 turnovers in games 2 and 3, then 35 in Games 4 and 5. And after allowing Atlanta’s star, Angel Reese, to score 51 points on 17-for-28 shooting, with 16 free throw attempts in Games 2 and 3, the Valkyries held her to 15 points on 4-for-20 shooting, with just 10 free throw attempts in Games 4 and 5.
Defense, defense, and defense. It got them to the playoffs, and it has them a win away from entering the history books.
The first half was one of the best defensive performances you’ll ever see in a playoff setting, for both teams, but Golden State had the advantage. The opening sequence ended up foreshadowing how the game would go: Atlanta won the tip, and missed their first shot. The Valkyries then couldn’t get a look, and nearly committed a turnover on a 24-second violation. Gabby Williams was forced to heave it from more than 30 feet to avoid a violation, and it missed badly.
But Kaila Charles corralled the offensive rebound, and found Kiah Stokes for a layup. And that was how the game would go: elite defense from both teams, with the Valkyries finding a way to score regardless, often turning defense into offense, where they had a massive 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
There was great energy on both ends of the court, for both teams, and it was a game of runs early. Golden State scored the first four points, then Atlanta responded with the next four, which led to the Valkyries scoring four more in a row, and then the Dream following suit. It felt like the Valks had the advantage throughout the quarter, in part because of how much they were dominating on the glass; but a Rhyne Howard three with just over 20 seconds gave the Dream their first lead of the game at 14-13, and that was the score when the period ended.
Veronica Burton, who seemed to always have a clutch bucket in this game, scored at the start of the second, restoring the lead to Golden State; she then followed it with a three, giving her half of the team’s 18 points. It increasingly felt like the Valkyries were taking control as the quarter wore on, but the score wasn’t reflecting it. It was hanging right in that small-margin range after an initial 9-2 burst. After getting a few buckets early in the quarter, Golden State’s offense went beyond quiet, as they missed nine consecutive shots, resulting in a scoreless stretch exceeding four minutes.
But Nakase’s emphasis on defense paid off all throughout the game, and arguably at no point more than in the middle of the second quarter. Even though Golden State couldn’t buy a bucket if they had all of Joe Lacob’s money, they were able to maintain the lead because they simply wouldn’t allow anything, either. Their interior defense was beyond elite, and Atlanta was unable to find any rhythm or any openings.
Finally, Cecelia Zandalasini broke the drought with a three, which was enough to get the Chase Center bouncing once again. The final sequence of the first half once again felt like it told the story of the game: over the course of a possession that lasted for nearly the entire final minute, the Dream missed three different shots (though they made one free throw); it was a combination of chaos and suffocating defense. When the buzzer rang, Golden State led 25-22, with a halftime score that felt more fitting for Monday Night Football than for a basketball game. If you love defense, this half was for you. If you love offense, though … well, can I suggest loving defense instead?
It felt like Golden State was in control in the first half, even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it. In the third quarter, though, the score started to. Atlanta struck first, with Jordin Canada making a layup on the first possession of the second half, pulling the Dream to within a point. But Charles answered with a mid-range jumper, the Valkyries forced a shot clock violation, Stokes drained a three, Golden State got a stop, and Tiffany Hayes made a driving layup on the other end.
Just like that, Golden State had rattled off a 7-0 run, and suddenly the score looked a little closer to being one-sided. From there, the game picked up a great pace, as offense came a little more easily, and the teams were flying up and down the court. The first rhythm of the contest was, fittingly, interrupted by a lengthy pair of replay reviews, and when play finally resumed, all of the smoothness of the game had evaporated.
Golden State’s defense was not just keeping Atlanta from scoring, but seemingly impacting the mental part of the game as well. It really felt like no one wearing a Dream jersey — including Reese — wanted to shoot the ball. They were deferring to each other, passing up on the rare looks they got, and seemingly not looking to score.
But slowly the Dream, led by Canada and Howard, started to find some opportunities, and the Valkyries’ offense had once again disappeared. With four minutes left, Atlanta pulled to three points, and it started to feel like the tide was shifting. Even after Gabby Williams, who had been very quiet to that point, made a huge shot, the Dream had a response: this time a Howard three to make it a two-point game. Again Golden State answered, this time with another Stokes three. With the offense improving for both sides, a critical two-for-one ended the third quarter: Zandalasini made a slick jump shot, but Howard answered with a mid-range jumper of her own with 10 seconds remaining. Burton, however, took the ball the length of the court to end the quarter with a layup, giving Golden State a 46-40 lead going into the final frame. The Valkyries were just 10 minutes away from taking back the series lead.
Canada started the fourth quarter with a bucket, sending a message that Atlanta wouldn’t go away quietly. But the message that Golden State sent in return was even stronger: Williams made a tough and impressive and-one and then, after a few back-and-forth stops, Stokes made yet another three, giving Golden State their first double-digit lead of the game, a few minutes into the final frame.
With that, the Valkyries had made it clear that this was their game, and they were not going to give it away. The lead was up to 12 points at the halfway mark, and given that the Dream had only scored 44 points through the first 35 minutes of action, it seemed unlikely that they’d overcome a 12-point deficit in just five minutes. It was a 10-point lead with four minutes left, a 12-point lead with three minutes left, and a 14-point advantage lead with two minutes left. Ballhalla was losing it’s mind, making a strong case that the Valkyries have the best fans in all of basketball — at any level, in any league.
With 1:46 remaining, Hayes made a pair of free throws, pushing the lead to a game-high 16 points. If it wasn’t clear before, it was clear now that Golden State was going to win.
Atlanta, to their credit, didn’t get the memo. Canada and Howard quickly made back-to-back threes, cutting the lead to 10 with just over a minute remaining, and forcing a timeout out of Nakase. But it was too little, too late; Williams scored out of the timeout, and all that was left was for the clock to run out.
It was a total team effort, as all great defensive performances are. But no one matched the impact of Stokes. After needing just four games to set a WNBA Finals record for total blocked shots, Stokes added to her historic total in this one, swatting away three more and positively dominating the paint, while also collecting eight rebounds. After being an all-defense force in the first four games of the series, Stokes cranked up the offense in this one, netting 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, while making a clear case to be the Finals MVP should Golden State win the series. Burton also finished with 13 points, while Hayes and Zandalasini each had 12.
But the real stats to reflect the defensive dominance by Stokes and Golden State? Reese was held to seven points, with more turnovers (three) than made buckets (two); Atlanta shot just 19-for-65 (29.2%) from the field, and 6-for-26 (23.1%) on threes; and the Dream had just 18 points in the paint.
Golden State now needs just one more win to cap a magical season and hoist a trophy. They’ll get their first crack at it on Thursday, where the WNBA has, unfortunately, failed in the logistics department. While that game will be at the State Farm Arena, allowing for a full-capacity crowd, it will be at 9:30 a.m. PT, and only be broadcast on Peacock and USA Network. Should Atlanta win and force a dramatic Game 7, that will take place back at the Chase Center on Saturday night.
