Two teams new to the bright lights of the WNBA Finals go head-to-head Saturday afternoon when the best-of-seven championship series between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries tips off in San Francisco.
Both teams swept their semifinal series. The fourth-seeded Dream defeated the New York Liberty, the 2024 champs, three games to none, while the second-seeded Valkyries ended the season of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 3-0.
Atlanta will be making its first Finals appearance since 2013, when it went winless against the Minnesota Lynx in what was then a best-of-five. Coincidentally, the only player from that Dream team returning to the grand stage 13 years later is Valkyries backup guard Tiffany Hayes.
“It’s just been drastic. … Nobody thought that we would make it to the Finals, and we’re doing that, we’re achieving that,” Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard said of the Dream’s rise. “We set out goals long before this year, and it’s finally coming to fruition.”
The Dream are looking for their first WNBA title after losing in the Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
Golden State, meanwhile, is in just its second season of existence. Last year, the Valkyries earned the eighth and final playoff spot, and they lost 2-0 in the first round to the Lynx.
Dream veteran DeWanna Bonner, a two-time WNBA champion, has stressed to her younger teammates that reaching the Finals shouldn’t alter their approach.
“Don’t change anything. Do what got you here,” said Bonner, 39. “Don’t think you have to do too much. Don’t think you have to do anything more or less. Just be you, but at the same time, let’s enjoy this.”
In a matchup between teams that haven’t met since July 4, the Valkyries will have home-court advantage because they have more regular-season wins (32-30). The difference was Golden State sweeping the three-game season series in which the Valkyries exploited advantages near the hoop and on the perimeter.
Playing two of the three games at home — including two in three nights in San Francisco on June 24 and 26 — the Valkyries outshot the Dream 37.5% to 28.1% on 3-point attempts, outscoring them 99-54 from deep. Golden State’s Gabby Williams, the leading scorer in the season series with 58 points, went 7-for-17 from beyond the arc, while Janelle Salaun finished 7-for-15.
Atlanta stars Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray combined to make just nine of their 38 3-point attempts vs. Golden State.
“It’s going to come down to those 50-50 balls, to those hustle plays,” Williams said. “I think playing against another defensive-minded team is obviously going to make the game very physical, so things will probably get stickier.”
Dream center Angel Reese recorded double-doubles in all three games, averaging 14.0 points and 12.3 rebounds, but she had trouble turning 17 offensive rebounds into hoops. She had six point-blank shots blocked by Golden State defensive ace Kiah Stokes, who totaled 12 rejections in the three wins.
Reese, who was selected the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year earlier this month, said the championship stage itself does not feel dramatically different, though Atlanta will be opening a playoff series on the road for the first time. The Dream will have to contend with “Ballhalla,” the nickname for the Valkyries’ home venue, 18,064-seat Chase Center.
“I think all of us have been in a stage where we played for some type of championship or played for something at a high stake,” Reese said. “This is our first time, obviously, playing on the road in the playoffs so it’s a little different. I know the environment in Ballhalla is great. The energy is great. I said that last year. They have great fan support.”
While the Dream initially had trouble securing a Finals-worthy site for their home games in the series before landing at State Farm Arena, Golden State coach Natalie Nakase was attempting to fire up her team’s fan base, which has led the league in attendance the last two seasons.
“The crowd does not stop cheering for you,” Stokes said. “Whether you’re winning or losing, you do anything great, they are just erupting. I think it brings us more life.”
Game 2 is set for Monday, also in San Francisco.
–Field Level Media
