AP
Angel Reese stole the ball from Kaila Charles and began dribbling when Tiffany Hayes tried to regain possession, fouled the Atlanta center and sent her to the floor. The Dream star repeatedly slapped her right hand on the court, finding yet another way to fire up her team.
Golden State’s miscues kept coming, and Atlanta kept capitalizing – scoring 24 points off 19 turnovers to beat the Valkyries 79-65 in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Monday night and even the best-of-seven series at 1-all as it shifts to Atlanta.
“I think we were just a little too loose with the ball,” Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton said. “Obviously that’s what they’re known for, and we’re known for the opposite. It starts with me, I can’t just be throwing the ball. It’s one of the most important things is taking care of it and so I think just being organized, all being on the same page and then in fast break not getting too sped up, being decisive. I think we had a lot of times where we were hesitant or we weren’t on the same page and that’s where it led to turnovers.”
Four of the five Golden State starters had two or more turnovers, with Kayla Thornton the only starter without one.
Rhyne Howard set a WNBA Finals single-game record with six steals and DeWanna Bonner chipped in four more off the bench. And Reese finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds.
Burton thought her team was outhustled by the determined Dream, who head home for Game 3 on Wednesday night. She committed three turnovers.
“You could tell that they ramped up their defense, so we’ve just got to stay focused, stay locked in,” Golden State center Kiah Stokes said.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase credited the Dream for “their effort, their hustle, their fight,” sprinting back on defense, getting their hands up and clogging the driving lanes.
“It’s frustrating, that’s been part of our identity. Because our identity is defense, we hang our hats on that,” Nakase said. “The hustle is the turnovers because in order for you to get turnovers they have to kind of outhustle you to create the turnovers.”
The Dream had just eight points off turnovers in their 68-64 Game 1 loss, then two days later returned to the defensive formula that got them this far. And that was crucial in tying up the series.
Nakase plans some conversations about sticking with a game plan and being organized on offense.
Burton will challenge herself to lead the way in taking better care of the ball.
“It starts with me. I’ve got to clean that up,” she said, “and that’s what we’ll do.”