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Good morning! The WNBA Finals are knotted at one. Game 3 tips off tomorrow in Atlanta. Coming up:
🎉 Reese’s party
🏆 Defense wins titles
🏀 Valkyries’ needed response
Let’s go.
Finals: Reese’s pro coming out party
The Dream didn’t want to leave Golden State without at least a split in the first two games. Angel Reese made sure they got their win.
Her tally: 30 points and 16 rebounds. Not to mention countless flexes, too-small gestures and bits of colorful language as she took over the game emotionally, willing her teammates to victory as she responded to what she thought was a subpar game in the series-opening loss.
Even with fellow All-Star Rhyne Howard in foul trouble (she picked up her fourth foul with 4:14 left in the second quarter), Reese insisted her way to the basket and found the mismatches that previously eluded her. As her coach Karl Smesko put it, it was a “superior” performance.
The player who trademarked the term “mebounds,” when the internet clowned on how many rebounds she collected off her own misses, was the only one on the court who could score effectively, needing only 16 field-goal attempts to rack up her 30 points. For what it’s worth, she had only two mebounds in the 79-65 Game 2 win, and they led to three points for the Dream.
Six players were selected ahead of Reese in the 2024 WNBA Draft, and it seems comical now that teams deemed those players more valuable than the former national champion and SEC Player of the Year. Now, Reese joins a more vaunted list of six players to register at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a postseason game: A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie and Jonquel Jones.
In case it wasn’t clear while Reese was toiling away in the dumpster fire that was the Chicago Sky for the last two seasons, she is a generational talent. She is already the greatest rebounder the league has ever seen. She just won her first Defensive Player of the Year award while switching positions from power forward to center on a new team that she joined two weeks before the start of training camp. She’s a World Cup gold medalist — and she took it to Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase’s team as if the Team USA assistant was somehow responsible for Reese not getting as many minutes as she wanted in Berlin.
Reese has the ultimate belief in her abilities and spreads that to the rest of her team. It’s why a team that couldn’t get out of the first round the last three seasons now has its first finals win in franchise history.
“I’m in Year 3, but I deserve to be here,” Reese said postgame. “We deserve to be here.”
Scoring Deficiency: Where are the buckets?
We should have expected a defensive series from the league’s best and third-best defense during the regular season. But is it so wrong to want just a few more buckets?
The Valkyries won Game 1 despite having one player score in double figures, and then Gabby Williams shot 3 of 15 in Game 3. Howard averaged 17.7 points for the Dream during the regular season, and her combined total through two games is short of that number. Neither of the teams has cracked 35 percent shooting through two games.
After a WNBA regular season that set numerous offensive records, including scoring, assists, field-goal percentage, 3-pointers, pace and offensive rating, it’s been a shock to settle into this style of basketball during the finals. Here’s how the teams are doing it.
The Valkyries’ defensive identity
Golden State makes every half-court possession a battle, fitting for a team that often practices to the sounds of machine guns and bombs. (Yes, I think it’s weird. The team does it to get ready for the noise in Ballhalla). The Valkyries get into passing lanes, deny movement and force really bad shots. They also don’t allow second chances. All of that is working against the Dream.
The one caveat to all of Golden State’s activity and pressure is that the Valkyries will foul. And that’s how Atlanta is finding points in this series.
The Dream’s defensive identity
Atlanta has a more disruptive defense than Golden State. Rather than suck the life out of the opponent for 24 seconds, the Dream like to just take the ball away. And then run.
Howard set a WNBA Finals record with six steals in Game 2, continuing to reach in and poke away at the Valkyries despite being in foul trouble essentially all night. In its win Monday, Atlanta forced Golden State into a season-high 19 turnovers, which it turned into 24 points.
Why care about a low-scoring finals?
We want to see the best players in the world do what they do best. Sometimes that means Kiah Stokes and Reese protecting the rim, or Williams and Howard forcing turnovers. Other times, it should mean great jump-shooting and slashing to the basket and ball movement that throws the defense out of whack.
With all due respect to the defenses, the offenses can be better.
More people watched the first two rounds of the WNBA playoffs than ever before, and they should be treated to a long, competitive series in the finals. Hopefully, no one is turned off by how defensively-minded these games have been thus far.
Fast Breaks
🏆 OK, so these finals are going to be a slog.
🏀 Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who was banned from a WNBA arena earlier this season, said on social media that he will attend Game 3. He wrote his shirt for the finals matchup “is going to BLOW YOUR MINDS!”
🔮 ICYMI, this year’s finals looks like the future, our Brian Hamilton writes. The Valkyries-Dream matchup shows the promise of what’s ahead.
🥇 Our playoff projections give the Dream the victory edge, at 58 percent to the Valkyries’ 42.
😢 A’ja Wilson cried in her former coach’s arms after a playoff loss once. That coach, Tanisha Wright, wrote about the moment, and how it highlighted Wilson’s superpower: She cares.
🗣️ Cathy Engelbert gave what is likely her last address as commissioner. Here’s what she reflected on.
🎙️ “The Athletic LIVE” is hosting a watch party for Game 3, and “No Offseason” is going live after Games 3 and 4. Don’t miss this!
Bounce Back: How do Valkyries recover in Game 3?
The Dream have the edge coming off a win and heading home for the next two games, but the Valkyries are still in decent position, likely needing at least one win at State Farm Arena before coming back home.
The Valkyries have to be more disciplined to avoid a potential elimination game at Ballhalla in Game 5.
That means limiting their turnovers — some of the giveaways in their last loss were particularly egregious, as if the guards were having a contest of who could throw more cross-court interceptions. Spoiler alert: Nobody won.
Golden State also has to defend without fouling. The beauty of its depth is it allows everyone to play hard because another wave is always ready to come in. But the Valkyries can’t be too aggressive to the point of letting the Dream parade to the line.
Golden State could also use some better luck from beyond the arc. The Valkyries averaged 11 made 3s against Atlanta during their three regular-season wins. That number is at seven during the finals. Some spacing would help break the shell of the Dream defense.
That’s all for today. Find the finals schedule here. And as always, get in touch with us at NoOffseason@theathletic.com for any thoughts or questions.
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
WNBA, Women's College Basketball, No Offseason
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