ATLANTA — It was a WNBA Finals game, a concert, and a dance party all at once.
It’s hard to overstate just how electric the sold-out crowd at State Farm Arena was on Wednesday night for Game 3. The fans were ready to welcome and celebrate their hometown Atlanta Dream, fresh off a resounding, homecourt-stealing Game 2 victory against the Golden State Valkyries. The celebrities were out in full force — athletes, movie stars, big-time entertainers.
Most importantly, the Dream were ready to capitalize on all the love. Following a 14-point Game 2 win, they defeated the Valkyries 97-71 to take a 2-1 series lead.
There’s plenty to highlight from this one, including a pair of history-making performances from Angel Reese (the easy Finals MVP frontrunner right now) and Rhyne Howard.
Reese’s 21 & 12 campaign made her the youngest player to log back-to-back 20-10 games in the Finals, joining A’ja Wilson as the only other player to do so. Reese also became the youngest player to log three-straight double-doubles in WNBA Finals history.
As for Howard, she racked up another five steals in this game. She’s now the only player in WNBA Finals history to log consecutive games with at least five steals.
For this piece, we’ll be zooming out and looking at five numbers that helped define the Dream’s dominant win.
Let’s dig in, shall we?
0.99 — The Dream’s half-court offensive efficiency (series-high)
We knew this series was going to be a gnarly one because of how good both of these defenses were. Six All-Defensive members, including this year’s Defensive Player of the Year in Reese, headline the matchup, with several other high-level defenders in each team’s rotation.
The first two games were, predictably, slugfests. The Valkyries logged a 0.62 points per possession (PPP) half-court clip in their comeback Game 1 win. The Dream followed that up with a 0.7 mark in Game 2. In both games, transition play (and offensive rebounds) played a big role in scrounging points.
The Dream exploded in Game 3, generating 0.99 PPP on half-court trips in Game 3. It was their best mark since Game 2 of the semifinals against the New York Liberty (1.0 PPP); it’s also the highest clip the Valkyries have allowed in a game since their Game 2 semifinals matchup against the Las Vegas Aces (1.05 PPP).
Tied to that, the Dream had their best half-court driving game of the series.
Game 1: 45 drives, 0.76 PPP
Game 2: 36 drives, 0.73 PPP
Game 3: 43 drives, 1.05 PPP
Atlanta’s downhill comfort is probably the thing that popped loudest for me in this one. There were timely rim finishes from Reese and Howard (more on her shortly), in particular, but the Dream being able to puncture the paint as often as they did triggered the Valkyries’ help in a real — and, per postgame commentary from the Valkyries and head coach Natalie Nakase, undisciplined — way.
Drive-and-kick was back on the table, also opening up the Dream’s best catch-and-shoot game of the series. They shot 9-of-22 from deep (40.9%) overall, with Reese (2-of-2) and Naz Hillmon (3-of-5) knocking down multiple.
5 — Shooting fouls drawn by Rhyne Howard
What a game it was for Howard.
After scoring 17 points through the first two games of the series, Howard dropped 16 in Game 3. She still hasn’t had a 3-point explosion — or one with her jumper in general — but it was encouraging to see her get downhill as often as she did.
Howard looked decisive and it paid off to the tune of five shooting fouls drawn — second only to the six she drew in Game 1 against the Mystics — including a pair of wild and-1 finishes against Kayla Thornton. Also of note, this was her third time all year (regular season + playoffs) where she took at least 10 free throws.
Karl Smesko, DeWanna Bonner and others have praised Howard’s ability to impact this series despite her not scoring at her usual level. Things could really get dicey if Howard starts to find comfort and heat up.
58.8 — The Dream’s help defender rate on drives (series-low)
While the Dream were able to more consistently poke at the Valkyries’ defense, the Valkyries found themselves searching for avenues to take advantage of.
As the series has gone on, the Dream have gotten more comfortable with how they want to deal with the Valkyries on offense. There’s a nuance to the way they’ve dealt with screens; the perimeter players are switching some, but ducking under others that don’t requirethem to swap matchups. The bigs are getting near the level of screens, but that’s where the fun starts; you don’t know if they’re going to show and contain, show and get out, or flat-out switch.
Behind those actions, the Dream are largely showing bodies without fully committing. Nakase noted in Game 2 that the Dream were doing a better job of “being in the gaps” to discourage easy/quick drives.
Aside from Reese, who would often roam off of Kiah Stokes to provide late help when needed, the Dream have trusted their teammates to handle their business.
(It’s worth keeping an eye on the Reese bit; one of the few things the Valkyries did well in Game 3 was mix in pin-in screens on the defender zoning up behind Reese, generating some corner 3s out of it.)
Gabby Williams wasn’t able to win enough of her matchups to move the Dream out of their shell. Ditto for Veronica Burton, who’s stilltrying to find the right balance of aggression and kick-out probing. Tiffany Hayes did her best, but I’d wager the Dream are largely OK with how difficult they made her looks at the rim.
While we’re on drives …
1.33 — PPP allowed on drives defended by Aminata Gueye
Gueye has largely been a pleasant surprise for the Valkyries this postseason. She made her rotation debut in the semifinals against the Aces, serving as a connective link to the Valkyries’ gameplan of sizing up against A’ja Wilson.
The Valkyries have turned to her for similar reasons in Game 2 and Game 3 of this series, attempting to keep size on Reese while matching her physicality. It was not a successful gambit in Gueye’s short stint in Game 2, and it ultimately didn’t pay off in Game 3.
Reese, in particular, has taken the matchup personally, mixing in flashes to the elbow that set up quick drives to the basket. Not only has Reese been successful in getting to her spots and scoring, she’s letting Gueye, the Valkyries, and the crowd know about it after every score.
I think Reese overpowering Laeticia Amihere on drives in Game 2 — an immediate bounce-back from the stellar job Amihere did defending Reese in Game 1 — influenced Nakase’s decision to turn to Gueye for a larger stint in Game 3. I think, in light of the confidence Reese is showing, it may be worth turning back to Amihere in Game 4.
1.14 — PPP allowed by the Valkyries on backcourt pick-ups
It’s one thing to have great defenders; it’s another thing to deploy them aggressively. I’ve generally enjoyed how early the Valkyries have asked their defenders to engage opposing ball-handlers, picking them up in the backcourt and forcing them to work before the half-court work truly begins.
No playoff team had a higher average pick-up point than the Valkyries entering the Finals, but that number had dropped considerably in the first two games against Atlanta, leading me to ask Nakase about it ahead of Game 3. Their per-round numbers entering the game, per Second Spectrum:
vs Wings: 53.1 feet
vs Aces: 52.8 feet
vs Dream (Games 1 & 2): 37.7 feet
The start of Game 3 made my head tilt. Not only did they ramp up their pick-up points — up to roughly 49 feet — multiple matchup-swaps were revealed. Most notably, Williams and Burton switched places; Williams took on Jordin Canada, while Burton slid onto Howard.
(In addition to that, we saw possessions where Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini swapped assignments, with Thornton taking on Allisha Gray and Zandalasini shifting onto Naz Hillmon.)
Nakase mentioned the desire to show different looks and keep fresh legs as primary reasons for the shift. Ultimately, the Dream were able to work through it; they generated over 1.1 PPP on trips featuring a backcourt pick-up. It’s worth monitoring, with the two-day break between Games 3 and 4, where the Valkyries will land on that front.
BONUS: 3,872
That’s roughly the amount of times I’ve watched this Angel Reese save-pass to Rhyne Howard since it happened.
like come ON dawg lol https://t.co/Im2b6Indlipic.twitter.com/3qqRyOLvoP
— Nekias (Nuh-KAI-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) October 22, 2026
INSANE.