Valkyries even WNBA Finals, force decisive Game 5 in Atlanta rematch

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 in Atlanta on Saturday to even the WNBA Finals at two games apiece, setting up a decisive Game 5 on Monday night back at Chase Center in San Francisco. Neither the Valkyries, an expansion franchise in just its second season, nor the Dream, playing in the Finals for the first time since 2013, has ever won a league title.

Rhyne Howard scored 19 points to lead Atlanta, but the Dream could not solve a Golden State defense that had surrendered 97 points two nights earlier. Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 17 points, Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton each added 13, and four Golden State players finished in double figures as the team rebounded from a 26-point loss in Game 3.

A scoreline that flipped overnight

Atlanta shot just 12 of 36 from the field through three quarters and did not have a single player in double figures until the fourth, a stark reversal from the 97-71 rout it produced two nights earlier at State Farm Arena. Golden State, by contrast, made 12 of 21 shots from inside the arc in the first half even while missing 12 of 14 three-point attempts, grinding out enough offense to build a double-digit cushion. Atlanta cut the deficit to four points in the final minute before Golden State closed it out, according to the league's live recap of Game 4 and a separate Atlanta Journal-Constitution account of the game.

The result pushed the series to a decider after two games that swung wildly in style. Game 3, an Atlanta blowout, featured Angel Reese posting her third straight double-double of the Finals: 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals, making her the first player in WNBA history to record a double-double in each of her first three Finals appearances. Howard added 16 points, five steals and four assists in that win.

• Game 1 (Oct. 17, at Golden State): Valkyries 68, Dream 64
• Game 2 (Oct. 19, at Golden State): Dream 79, Valkyries 65
• Game 3 (Oct. 22, at Atlanta): Dream 97, Valkyries 71
• Game 4 (Oct. 24, at Atlanta): Valkyries 67, Dream 62

Two franchises still chasing a first trophy

The series carries weight beyond a single trophy case. Golden State, the No. 2 seed, is playing its first Finals in franchise history after joining the league as an expansion team in 2025; coach Natalie Nakase was voted the league's Coach of the Year that inaugural season and led the Valkyries to a semifinal sweep of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to reach this series. Golden State clinched that semifinal with an 87-77 overtime win. Atlanta, the No. 4 seed, is in the Finals for the first time since 2013, according to a report from Fox 5 Atlanta after the Dream swept the defending champion New York Liberty in the semifinals. Dream coach Karl Smesko is in his first WNBA season after 25 years at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he built one of the most consistent mid-major programs in college basketball before taking the Dream job for his first WNBA season and reaching the Finals in his debut year on the bench.

Golden State had entered the Finals as the favorite after sweeping the regular-season series against Atlanta 3-0, but the Dream flipped that script with a dominant stretch at home. Game 2, in particular, turned into a showcase for Reese, who scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a 79-65 win that evened the series at 1-1. The performance made her the youngest player in WNBA history to post a 30-point, 15-rebound game in a Finals contest, a mark previously reached only by Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart.

Home comforts, then a road environment

The league moved Games 3 and 4 from the Dream's regular home floor, which seats roughly 3,500, to State Farm Arena, the Atlanta Hawks' 17,000-plus-seat building, to accommodate Finals demand. Atlanta made the most of it in Game 3, but the larger crowd was not enough to carry the Dream through a second straight home game once Golden State tightened its defense and controlled the paint. The swing illustrates how unsettled this series has been: margins in the first four games have ranged from four points to 26, and no team has won back-to-back games. Golden State took Game 1 at home, Atlanta won Game 2 on the road, Atlanta then won Game 3 at home, and Golden State won Game 4 on the road, a strict alternation that has held through four games.

For Golden State, the win also eased pressure that had been building after consecutive defeats, including the 26-point loss in Game 3 that was the largest margin of the series. Williams, who had carried the scoring load in the opener with 26 points, again anchored the offense in Game 4, but this time with more help, as Hayes and Burton each reached double figures alongside her.

What's next

Game 5 is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern at Chase Center, broadcast on USA Network and streaming on Peacock. Should the series continue beyond that, Game 6 would be played Thursday in Atlanta and a Game 7, if necessary, back in San Francisco on Oct. 31, per the league's published postseason schedule. Golden State holds home-court advantage for both of those potential games, a product of its No. 2 seed entering the playoffs.

Both teams have shown they can win decisively on the road as well as collapse at home, which has made the series difficult to predict from game to game. Whichever team wins Monday will take a 3-2 series lead and need only one more victory to claim the first WNBA championship in its franchise's history; a loss would send the series back to Atlanta for a sixth game Thursday.