Valkyries One Win From Title as Turnovers Swing Series — SkimNews
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- Golden State Valkyries carry a 3-2 lead into Game 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday at Atlanta's State Farm Arena; a win delivers the championship in the Valkyries' second season, while an Atlanta win sends the series to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Halloween in San Francisco. Golden State swept Atlanta 3-0 in the regular season, though both clubs downplayed those results.
- Natalie Nakase became the first coach in WNBA Finals history to change multiple players in a starting lineup in Game 3 or later of a best-of-five series without an injury to a starter, starting Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes and shortening her rotation to roughly seven players from the usual nine or 10.
- Copeland identified turnovers as the biggest predictor of success: Golden State averaged 18 turnovers leading to 23 Atlanta points in its Games 2-3 losses, then nine turnovers for seven points in Games 4-5, while Atlanta averaged 17.5 turnovers yielding 18.5 Valkyries points.
- Angel Reese, the three-time All-Star and 2026 Defensive Player of the Year, went 2-for-12 with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 6 turnovers in Game 4 and scored 7 points on 2-for-8 shooting in Game 5, after averaging 25.5 points and 14 rebounds in Atlanta's two wins.
- Allisha Gray has been limited by a hand injury, averaging 13.9 points on 34.4% shooting in eight playoff games against 19.0 points and 46.2% in the regular season; her series average of 12.0 points trails Rhyne Howard's 14.4 and Jordin Canada's 10.6.
- Atlanta Dream are averaging 31 fewer points in three Finals losses than their regular-season pace of 91.3 points per game, which ranked third in the league against Golden State's No. 14-ranked offense, and DeWanna Bonner has been held to single digits in all five games.
- Kiah Stokes is playing close to 30 minutes a game in the shortened rotation, with Rebecca Lobo noting she "has been stellar for Golden State," and ESPN's separate coverage credits her with carrying the Valkyries to the 3-2 lead.
Why it matters: Atlanta's margin for error has collapsed with Allisha Gray's hand injury: her playoff shooting fell from 46.2% to 34.4%, and the Dream are averaging 31 fewer points than their regular-season pace. Golden State, ranked No. 14 in scoring, built its 3-2 lead on turnovers and defense — the formula Atlanta must reverse Thursday.
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