ATLANTA — For all the Golden State Valkyries lacked in offense the first three games, they made up for in corporate buzzwords.
Vulnerability. Connectivity. Togetherness.
Fight. Always more fight. And the Valkyries finally brought it to the WNBA Finals Series in a Game 4 they desperately needed following two games of lying down. They were still on the floor — this is the Finals after all and physicality is non-negotiable — but it came from their own hustle and not accepting the Dream taking it to them instead.
The 67-62 win Saturday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta tied the series 2-2, snapping the Dream’s momentum after two straight wins. Game 5 is at Chase Center on Monday.
The Valkyries’ first step was quicker. The help came faster. Point guard Veronica Burton geared into sprints to limit opportunities the few times they did turn the ball over. Center Kiah Stokes tip-toed the baseline to save rebounds. Tiffany Hayes snared loose balls in the backcourt. Gabby Williams attacked her spots.
And when they heard a whistle or the lack of one on a shot, they carried on with little more than an admonishing look every once in a while. The free-throw discrepancy remained lopsided. The Dream attempted 31 compared to the Valks’ 13, raising the margin to 116-65 over the four-game series. It didn’t determine the result.
“We stopped letting the officiating dictate the game,” Williams said. “Last game we were very soft, like we were expecting a foul call. We were expecting this. This is the Finals. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be tough. So we have to woman up.”
On nearly every play for a full 40 minutes, they did in a return to form for the league’s most scrappy team. It was Valkyries basketball with a dash of Atlanta on top. Golden State turned Atlanta over 18 times for 16 points, a stat that has stood on the Dream’s side of the box score the prior three games of the series. It’s what led them to the Finals, but instead it was Golden State leading in fastbreak points and turnover margin. The Valks turned it over a series-low nine times.
“We kept saying we didn’t recognize ourselves,” head coach Natalie Nakase said.
Any Valkyries lead had been a rarity in the series. The Dream led for 87:24 of 120 minutes, per ESPN Insights, and much of the rest was played during ties. A late comeback was needed to win Game 1. One week later was a far different story with the standard defensive-fueled result.
“That's our identity,” Nakase said. “Keeping a team like Atlanta to 62. That’s who we are.”
Nakase switched up the starting lineup for the first time since three games near the FIBA World Cup break when absences necessitated it. Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles took the places of Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini. On a team as balanced and “ego-less” as this, Nakase had no qualms.
“You definitely saw some energy, a better fight [to start],” Nakase said.
In another swap, Nakase shortened the rotation to play only seven after the bench outscored the starters. The punch of the Valks’ substitutions and hot hands hit harder. Zandalasini’s 3-pointer off an offensive rebound and Williams assist gave the Valkyries a 14-7 lead with 2:09 in the first quarter. The seven-point margin was their largest lead of the series.
By the same time in the second quarter, it reached 13 off another Zandalaisini bucket. Three players scored over the next two minutes to go up 42-26 at the half. Given the Dream had won the third quarters of the series 63-35, the Valks needed it. The buffer was enough that Atlanta winning the second half 36-25 didn’t matter.
And after days of lamenting a lack of composure, they kept hold of it when Angel Reese, whose finishing at the rim took a turn in Game 4, cut the deficit to 5 with 1:36 remaining in the game. The Dream hadn’t been that close in Game 4 since midway through the second quarter. A comeback reminiscent of the Valkyries’ in Game 1, with their own home crowd drowning out defensive communication, was possible.
The Valkyries survived an empty possession, rebounded a Dream miss and Burton turned around for a 66-59 lead. They rode out the final 30 seconds, finishing the win with Williams stealing a pass.
Before two days of lingo befitting a team based in a tech hub, it was Williams who publicly showed the first wisp of fight. In a post-Game 3 huddle, she pointed, yelled and stomped in obvious frustration. Golden State had allowed a postseason-high 94 points.
But it was out of character for the French star to so animatedly light into her team. Also off was her own performance. She was 8 of 33 from the floor in the two losses, a letdown from a star turn of 26 points in Game 1 and a lavishing of “one of the best players in the world” praise.
“I didn’t like who I was in that last game,” Williams said. “Stepping up in that role made me step up also individually. If I want to lead my team, I have to be the one that sets the tone, and I have to lead by example as well.”
Williams led the Valkyries with 17 points on 21 attempts, with balanced scoring from Hayes (13 points), Burton (13) and Zandalasini (10). It was another sub-40% showing from their offense-optional roster, but when the hustle results in 18 more shot attempts, that still finishes the job.
For all the ways the two teams line up on paper, and in a series won in the margins, there is one factor starkly in opposition. Reese feasts off trash-talk and getting under opponents’ skin. She made it clear in the two days between games that the Dream are tracking the Valkyries’ facial expressions for leverage and an edge.
Nothing showed itself on Saturday. Reese couldn’t throw a “too small” while shooting 2 of 12 from the floor for 8 points and 9 rebounds while turning it over a game-high six times. She’s had a tough time against Stokes, who became the first player with at least 3 blocks in four consecutive Finals games. Stokes’ 13 is a record for most in a Finals series.
“She's been guiding me the whole playoffs or the whole Final, so it wasn't anything different,” Reese said. “I just felt like I was rushing my shots.”
Reese emphatically blocked Williams in the first quarter, clapping toward her team in the huddle to hype it up. Williams threw her own looks, yelling toward the bench as the Valks built their lead. It was the type of mentality a Finalist contender needs and Nakase wants.
The former UCLA walk-on guard describes herself as an “MFer.” She has joked this series that Burton is actually cursing now, signaling to her a level of “truth telling” and “sense of urgency.” But no one had leveled up to the intensity brought by Reese and the Dream until glimpses in Game 4.
The win won’t erase the buzzwords. There will be more accountability in film study. Vulnerability in acknowledging mistakes. More variations of “together” have been uttered this series than points scored in either of the Valkyries victories. The most tangible to the outside eye is what snatched the series back from the edge of defeat.