If the Golden State Valkyries want to hoist a trophy in just their second year of existence, they’ll have to come from behind to do it. Golden State trailed from start to finish against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday night, losing 97-71 and falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. After winning a thriller in Game 1 — which ended Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak — the Valkyries have no dropped back-to-back one-sided games. And as a result, there’s a whole lot of work to do before they seek
to equalize the series.
Like the first two games of the series, this game started slowly. Though unlike in the first two games, it was less because the defensive effort was strong, and more because the offense just wasn’t working for either team. Fittingly, after her dominant performance in Game 2, the scoring finally commenced on a bucket by Angel Reese, who had another superstar showing.
The Dream fanbase — which absolutely showed out as the Finals games were moved from their usual home (which holds just 3,500 fans) to the jam-packed State Farm Arena — wasted no time getting into the game, as the building was rocking while Atlanta took an early 6-0 lead. It took Golden State nearly half of the first quarter to score, and they were staying in the game only because of a strong defensive effort, primarily from Kiah Stokes. Finally, with 5:07 remaining, Kaila Charles grabbed an offensive rebound, went back up, drew a foul, and made a free throw to get the Valkyries on the board.
What happened next was emblematic of the entire game. Exactly 10 seconds after the Valkyries had scored — and scored just one point — Reese made an and-one. And that proved to be the entirety of the game. Golden State would make a mild push, and Atlanta would answer with a stronger response.
It happened again a few minutes later. Finally the Valkyries started to find some pace and rhythm, and scored seven unanswered points to get within a single point. But in the blink of an eye, the Dream rattled off a 10-2 run, which was emphasized by total defensive clamps, and a pair of threes by Naz Hillmon on back-to-back possessions. Atlanta quickly pushed the lead to double digits, and settled into a 23-15 lead after the first quarter.
An interesting trend started to appear, for better or for worse. The Valkyries knocked in a three to start the second quarter, which made it a 23-18 disadvantage … at that point, 15 of Golden State’s 18 points had come off the bench, while the Dream had 0 points points from the pine.
The energy was much better for the Valks in the second quarter, but once again the Dream always had an answer. Another prime example occurred early in the quarter, when Janelle Salaün went on a flurry to pull Golden State within four points. And then, in what felt like a matter of seconds, Reese drained a three, stole the ball from Veronica Burton, and pushed it ahead to Jordin Canada, who found Rhyne Howard for a triple. Just like that, it was back to a 10-point game, and the Dream would turn it into an 8-0 run before the Valkyries would find a response.
It turned into a defensive dog fight late in the quarter, but the primary difference was that Golden State was forcing tough shots, while Atlanta was forcing turnovers. Still, through grit and an impressive showing from Salaün — who was held scoreless through the first nine quarters of the series, but exploded for 11 points in the second frame — the Valkyries only trailed 46-40 at halftime. It felt like Golden State had played one of their worst halves of the season, and that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong; and yet, it was just a two-possession game at the break. That lended itself to optimism.
That optimism was immediately rewarded in the third quarter, when Cecelia Zandalasini quickly drained a three and Gabby Williams made a layup, pulling Golden State to within a point. Shortly after, Zandalisini made another three, tying the game. They were playing with far better pace and energy than in the first half but, like all of their prior runs, the good times didn’t last long. The Dream broke a tie with an 8-0 run, and maintained a lead in the 4-10 range for quite a while.
As the quarter went on, Atlanta’s defense only grew tighter and tighter, and is it did, the crowd grew louder and louder. An incredible fadeaway jumper from DeWanna Bonner nearly brought the roof down as the lead went into double digits, and from there the Dream protected the paint like it was saving them. They blocked shots, blocked more shots, forced turnovers, and forced more turnovers, and seemingly turned them all into buckets.
Following the tie, Atlanta outscored Golden State 22-8 to end the quarter, and led 71-57 entering the fourth quarter. With how strong the Dream’s defense was, it felt like it would take a miracle just for the Valkyries to get back into the game.
Unfortunately, no such miracle transpired. Atlanta scored first to push the lead to 16 points, and soon it was a 20-point game. Golden State was playing with desperation, which sometimes results in inspired play, but in this case just led to sloppiness and more turnovers. As was the case all game, they had one small run to get back into the game, but it was immediately shut down by a stronger Atlanta response, as the Dream cruised to a 26-point win.
It was another tough game for Williams, who appears to be a little physically compromised. She finished with a team-high 15 points, but shot just 5-for-18 from the field and committed four turnovers, though she dished eight assists. Golden State’s opening five was mostly lifeless on offense: the four starters next to Williams combined to shoot just 6-for-20 (Stokes, however, had another stellar game on the other end of the court, with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots).
Five Dream players finished with double figures, with Reese once again dominating, netting a 21-and-12 double-double on 7-for-12 shooting, with three assists and three steals.
But where the game really was determined was in the turnover column. Both defenses are elite, but Atlanta’s was better on this night, forcing 15 turnovers, while committing just eight. Just as importantly, the Dream were able to turn those 15 turnovers into 22 points, while the Valkyries turned eight turnovers into just seven points.
The Valkyries now have some serious problems to figure out, though they have two off days to find some solutions. Game 4 is on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. PT, before the series switches back to San Francisco for Game 5.
