Atlanta Dream smother Golden State, riding a bruising defense to a 2-1 WNBA Finals lead

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Dream have imposed their will defensively on Golden State in the WNBA Finals so far, using their size and strength to dominate the Valkyries.

That’s helped them take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after Wednesday night’s 97-71 victory. Game 4 is on Saturday.

Golden State has averaged only 68 points in the Finals — 14 below their regular season mark. After only forcing 10 turnovers in the Game 1 loss, Atlanta has turned up its pressure and that’s led to easy points off its opponents miscues.

Rhyne Howard, who has had back-to-back games with at least five steals, knew it just took a little bit for the team to get ready to play on the big stage of the championship series.

“I think just settling in. I think just obviously taking in that this was a big moment for not just me, but for everybody,” she said after the Game 3 win. “At their place, jitters subconsciously or consciously, but I think just locking in and realizing that we can get what we want. We’re No. 1 in a lot of categories, and that first game we didn’t show why. So I think Game 2 and Game 3 we showed why we were No. 1 in those categories not only in the postseason, but in the games leading up.”

When the Atlanta defense is going, it helps spur the offense with layups off the steals. It’s also helped them control the paint. The Dream held the Valkyries without a basket for the first 5-plus minutes of the game and then came up with big blocks by Howard and Isobel Borlase in the third quarter that helped keep Golden State at bay.

Atlanta has averaged 20 points better than Golden State in its two wins. The Dream had only a plus-two margin in the loss.

“Defense wins championships and we understand that,” Dream forward DeWanna Bonner said. “I feel like that’s something that we’ve taken very serious since the FIBA break — since I’ve been there. But, when your shot’s not falling, you got to rely on something, and that’s always been my defense.”

Bonner went on to say that the first thing the Dream watch on video after games is their defense.

While Atlanta’s defense has been in sync the last two games, Golden State admitted they have been uncharacteristically undisciplined. All season long the Valkyries have been able to set the tone defensively in their games. They held teams well below their average and hadn’t given up more than 90 points in regulation since late July until Wednesday night.

Golden State coach Natalie Nakase shouldered the blame for the defensive issues.

“If something is being a little bit unclear, then that’s all on me,” she said. “We weren’t in our shifts consistently. We weren’t communicating. We were kind of just late on certain rotations, which was just uncharacteristic.”

Both teams know the series isn’t done yet as the WNBA has a best-of-seven format for the second year. If Golden State can solve its defensive and offensive issues on Saturday, the team can head back home with the series tied.

“I think we’re still very positive,” said Valkyries forward Kiah Stokes, who won three WNBA titles with Las Vegas. “We know we can fix (it). A lot of it is dealing with ourselves. So we just got to look in the mirror first and then move forward. But, yeah, this is a long series. I think positivity and energy is still high and we got another chance to steal one on Saturday, and then the series is evened up and then it’s best of three.”

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