Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 44 points as the Atlanta Dream defeated the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 to send the WNBA Finals to a game seven decider on Thursday. Atlanta, needing a win to stay alive after suffering back-to-back defeats at home, leveled the series at 3-3 after an early offensive onslaught. Gray finished with 23 points while Howard added 21 points. Dream star Angel Reese also came up big at both ends of the court, scoring 15 points while hauling in 14 rebounds. Gabby Williams led the Golden State scoring with 26 points, with Tiffany Hayes adding 15.
Thursday’s game at State Farm Arena had controversially been moved to a daytime start in order to avoid a clash with the Atlanta Hawks’ home NBA game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet there was no sign of the early start catching Atlanta cold, with the home side flying out of the blocks to take a firm grip on the contest. A 13-0 run in the first quarter sent Atlanta into a 19-5 lead which ultimately proved decisive, with the Dream maintaining a double-digit cushion for most of the game thereafter.
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“Every time we’ve thrown the first punch in this series, we’ve won the game,” Reese said afterwards. “So just being able to set the tone early. We didn’t want to have everybody come out at 12.30pm for no reason — we appreciated the support on a weekday. I’m just really proud of this group. The job is not done. I’m looking forward to it. One more.”
Atlanta led by as many as 25 points at one stage, and although Golden State trimmed the deficit to eight points at 77-69 with just over a minute to play, the result was never in doubt. Game seven in the series will take place in San Francisco on Saturday.
© 2024 AFP
