ATLANTA — Quite a few things needed to change for the Golden State Valkyries if they wanted to notch things up against the Atlanta Dream in Game 4.
They needed a better version of Gabby Williams, particularly on the offensive end, than they’d gotten in the prior two contests. They needed a more aggressive version of Veronica Burton, one much closer to the regular-season version.
Broadly speaking, they needed more collective energy and focus — a pair of areas that, per head coach Natalie Nakase, the team had shown “uncharacteristic” slippage in.
On Saturday, they got more from Williams, who scored a team-high 17 points and defended at a high level (including three steals) . Burton added a series-high 13 points, ramping up her driving volume while also flying around defensively (three steals, two blocks).
The Valkyries even tweaked their rotation: they swapped out Cecilia Zandalasini and Kayla Thornton for Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles in the starting lineup, and, aside from a combined 4:26 from Janelle Salaün (2:34) and Kaitlyn Chen (1:52), generally rolled with a seven-player rotation on their way to the series-tying 67-62 win,
If there was a constant, something that didn’t need changing, it was the steady play of Kiah Stokes.
Her role is simple: screen hard, connect possessions when asked, clean up the glass on both ends, and eliminate the paint as a scoring option when on the floor.
In Game 4, she once again came to play: 4 points, a playoff career-high 16 rebounds (overall career-high 8 OREB) and 3 air-draining blocks.
History was made with Stokes’ third block, a two-handed swat on a DeWanna Bonner drive. She became the first player in WNBA Finals history to log at least three blocks in four straight games. Zooming out, she surpassed a pair of legends in Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner for the most total blocks in a Finals series.
This could be enough of a story, Stokes’ rim protection in the highest-stakes portion of the season. But what this is, dearest reader, is a continuation of season-long dominance. A kind reminder that she was officially named to this year’s All-Defensive Second Team — she’d have made my first team if I had a ballot — just last week for her role on a historically great Valkyries defense.
If we want to narrow things to the postseason, I hope people understand how nuts (complimentary) this run has been for Stokes.
The Valkyries have faced the fifth- (Wings), second- (Aces), and fourth- (Dream) ranked offenses in the league. All three feature All-Star bigs: a playmaking post hub in Jessica Shepard, the literal GOAT in A’ja Wilson, and an ascending superstar in Angel Reese. Three distinct styles of attack.
None of them have had a good time against Stokes.
The Wings series was a fun one; partly Stokes shutting down post touches and drives, partly Stokes acting as a roamer while Thornton defended Shepard’s perimeter touches.
Things shifted in Las Vegas, Stokes’ old stomping grounds, with the Aces working to move Wilson around the board. There were cross screens to navigate, pindowns to track, pick-and-rolls to defend — and, more often than usual, a healthy dose of switching as part of the diet.
In the Finals, it’s been a little bit of everything for Reese. Some low-post touches, some above-the-break hub work, transition attacks, free-throw area flashes to set up attacks, pick-and-roll play.
Stokes, more than any other defender on the Valkyries by a wide margin, has been game for it.
That is not an exaggeration, by the way. Per Second Spectrum, here is how Reese has fared on shots contested by Stokes, compared to the other Valkyries:
vs. Stokes: 5-of-21, 23.8% FG
vs. everyone else: 19-of-30, 63.3% FG
And here is how that’s played out for those All-Star bigs for the entire postseason:
Shepard: 3-of-12 (25% FG) vs. Stokes; 5-of-11 (45.5% FG) vs. everyone else
Wilson: 10-of-32 (31.3% FG) vs. Stokes; 44-of-72 (61.1% FG) vs. everyone else
Reese: 5-of-21 (23.8% FG) vs. Stokes; 48-of-97 (49.5% FG) vs. everyone else
Total: 18-of-65 (27.7% FG) vs. Stokes; 97-of-180 (53.9% FG) vs. everyone else
Of course, those are just contest numbers. As mentioned earlier, Stokes’ work in pick-and-roll has been equal parts impressive and impactful.
Between her length, understanding of angles, willingness to chew up space, and increased comfort as a late-switch option, the Dream haven’t had much fun with her. And of course, having stout perimeter defenders like Burton and Williams in front of her relieves pressure.
In Game 4, the Dream generated only 0.58 PPP on trips featuring a ball screen defended by Stokes. That’s actually an improvement from Game 3 (13 picks, 0.36 PPP). In fact, it’s been fascinating to watch Atlanta’s pick-and-roll volume ebb and flow throughout the series — and how Stokes has become less involved as things have gone on. To that end:
Game 1: 20 picks defended, 0.69 PPP
Game 2: 29 picks defended, 0.5 PPP
Game 3: 13 picks, 0.36 PPP
Game 4: 14 picks, 0.58 PPP
Yes, you read correctly: that’s 29 picks defended in Game 2, 27 combined in Game 3 and 4.
Zoom out for the entire postseason, and teams have generated only 0.75 PPP on trips featuring a ball screen defended by Stokes — a slightly stingier figure than what was allowed during the regular season (0.76 PPP, second among 45 players to defend at least 300).
The defensive glass work is quieter but, again, incredibly important. Stokes grabbed eight today, and is averaging 7.5 for the series. It’s an impressive feat considering Reese, arguably the greatest rebounder of all time, is on the other side of this matchup.
Per Second Spectrum’s rebound tracking, Reese’s success rate on offensive rebound attempts has doubled (20% to 40%) when Stokes has gone to the bench in this series — a figure that makes sense considering how small some of the non-Stokes lineups have been for the Valkyries, but it’s an eye-popping one nonetheless.
“I think it’s always been in her,” head coach Natalie Nakase told reporters when asked about Stokes’ excellent defensive postseason.
“What she chatted to me before coming [to Golden State] — I know Kiah, obviously, from Vegas — she just needs an environment where she feels good, she feels loved; and I think she feels really connected even though this is her first year with our team.”
Nakase went on to laud Stokes for her preparation, experience, and ability to stay centered.
“The biggest thing is, Kiah stays consistent,” Nakase said. “She doesn’t look for the outside noise; she actually doesn’t like attention. With that type of ‘star mentality,’ I think that’s really special and it’s what keeps us really focused.”
Stokes may not like the attention, but she certainly deserves it.