Valkyries Win First WNBA Title as Reese, Dream Falter in Game 7

SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night at Chase Center, winning the best-of-seven WNBA Finals 4-3 and claiming the franchise’s first championship.

Guard Gabby Williams, named Finals MVP, scored 30 points, including 28 in the second half, and blocked four shots. Her 31-foot three-pointer with 2:18 remaining broke a 57-57 tie and put Golden State ahead for good.

Atlanta’s Angel Reese scored one point and did not attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter. She finished with eight points on 3-for-7 shooting, 12 rebounds and four turnovers. It was her fourth consecutive game with more turnovers than made field goals; across those four games she shot 12-for-45 (26.7%) and committed 19 turnovers.

Reese’s only fourth-quarter point came on a free throw with 18.6 seconds remaining.

The Numbers Behind the Story

Reese finished the series averaging 14.7 points and 12.9 rebounds while shooting 40.5% from the field. The split between the first three games and the last four is stark. She combined for 51 points and 28 rebounds in Games 2 and 3, when Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead. She then scored 38 points over the final four games — 13 fewer than she scored in Games 2 and 3 combined.

Atlanta’s team numbers tell the same story. The Dream shot 33.3% overall and went 6-for-30 from beyond the arc. Rhyne Howard finished with six points on 3-for-14 shooting, missing all seven of her three-point attempts.

Golden State’s supporting cast delivered around Williams. Kiah Stokes had eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, including two consecutive offensive rebounds of Williams misses late in the fourth; the second became a putback that stretched the lead to 64-57 with 53.8 seconds left. Veronica Burton added 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Tiffany Hayes scored 11.

Jordin Canada led Atlanta with 18 points, 13 of them by halftime, and Allisha Gray added 16.

How the Game Turned

The Dream went scoreless for the first 5:19 as Golden State built an 8-0 lead. Reese put Atlanta on the board with a basket off an offensive rebound. Atlanta trailed 14-12 after one quarter, and Reese’s three-pointer early in the second gave the Dream their first lead.

Golden State went more than eight minutes without a field goal to begin the second quarter, and Atlanta took a 30-24 lead into the break. Reese had five points, seven rebounds and three turnovers at halftime. Williams had just two points.

The Dream extended their lead to 37-28 midway through the third quarter. Then Williams took over, scoring Golden State’s final 13 points of the period, including three three-pointers in a 56-second span. Reese answered one of those threes with a hook through contact but missed the accompanying free throw — her last basket of the night. Williams’ turnaround jumper with 1:05 remaining gave the Valkyries a 45-44 lead entering the fourth. She scored 15 points in the third quarter and 13 more in the fourth.

Gray’s two free throws tied the game at 55 with 3:15 left. Williams answered with a driving layup, Howard tied it again at 57, and Williams buried the 31-footer. After Gray missed a wide-open layup, Williams made two free throws to push the lead to five with 1:40 remaining. Gray’s three-pointer brought Atlanta within four, but Hayes answered with two free throws. Reese stole a Williams pass and Gray made two free throws to cut the deficit to 66-63 with 10.5 seconds left; Burton’s two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining secured the victory.

Who Wins and Who Loses

Golden State gets the franchise’s first championship in a series that turned on one player’s second half. Williams’ 28 points after halftime outscored Atlanta’s entire roster over the same span in the moments that mattered, and her four blocks came in the clincher.

For Atlanta, the loss raises questions about late-game offense. Canada carried the scoring for much of the night, but Reese never became a scoring factor down the stretch, and Howard’s shooting slump (3-for-14, 0-for-7 from three) removed a second option. The Dream got 44 combined points from Gray and Howard in Thursday’s 80-69 Game 7-forcing win, but could not reproduce that balance on Saturday.

Reese’s own framing of the series came before Game 4, when she said of Golden State: “They’re playing into my mental game where I can take their confidence and just try to do whatever to mess them up.” The Valkyries won the next two games. After Game 3, she had described her measure of greatness: “I think you become one of the greats … when you can win and impact winning.” She helped put Atlanta two wins from a championship; across the final four games, the wire reported, she didn’t do enough for the Dream to finish the job.

Anthem Absence Completes Series

Before tipoff, both teams again left the court for the national anthem, completing the seven-game series without appearing on the floor for any of the performances.