ATLANTA – It looked the same. The Valkyries shot 1-for-11, and a starting lineup change hardly mattered. They just didn’t have enough offense to beat the Atlanta Dream.
But the adjustments, it turned out, would work. Not only did the Valkyries (barely) outshoot Atlanta, they outshot the Dream 72-54, forced 18 turnovers and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the 67-62 Game 4 victory to tie the series 2-2.
“We lost on Wednesday. but to me, that doesn’t mean we’re out of anything,” center Kiah Stokes said. “Because our goal was there and could still be accomplished if we won today, and then we go back home. Now it’s the best-of-three series. So it was just shake it off and learn from it and then just get ready. Nothing was won or lost in Game 3.”
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase made a rare starting lineup change with the additions of Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles while Cecilia Zandalasini and Kayla Thornton came off the bench. That turned out to work well, as Hayes brought a ton of offensive energy while Zandalasini was a plus-20 off the bench in one of her most efficient games of the year.
“Just did what it took to win,” Nakase said about the changes and shorter rotation.
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They essentially played seven on Saturday, with Janelle Salaun playing just under three minutes, two from Kaitlyn Chen and none from their two bench centers, Laeticia Amihere and Aminata Gueye. That was another rarity for Nakase, who has gone with a “strength in numbers” approach to the Valkyries’ depth all season.
Golden State combined for 36 turnovers over Games 2 and 3 which cost them on the scoreboard but also in the possession battle. The Valkyries, who shot 42.2% in the regular season, have never succeeded with an efficient offense.
So getting the ball as much as possible was huge against a Dream team that exploits teams in transition. With just nine turnovers on Saturday, they ended up with 22 extra possessions.
“We’re punching, punching, punching a little bit too early, so we just took a breath,” Nakase said. “We locked into the details, we understood it’s so loud in there so we talked about how we can’t just look now…. They were right on, they were very connected tonight.”
Williams shot 7-for-21 but her elbow jumper was more effective as she had an easier time getting to her right and she finished with 17 points. Her being a threat from that part of the floor helped Golden State’s spacing. That performance came after her impassioned speech to the team in their postgame huddle following Game 3’s loss.
“I didn’t like my last game,” Williams said. “I didn’t like who I was in that last game. I think stepping up in that moment also made me step up individually. If I want to lead my team, I have to be the one to set the tone. I have to lead by example as well. So that motivated me to set the tempo today.”
Williams also noted that the Valkyries did a better job finishing their shots instead of waiting on foul calls that were not going to happen.
“We were expecting a foul call…but this is the Finals,” Williams said. “It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be tough. So we have to woman up. We just decided to play through that contact versus wanting it to be easy.”
Golden State did other things well that had evaded it over the series, too. They shut down Angel Reese (8 points, 2-for-12 from the field) and held the Dream to under 20% shooting from the 3-point line.
They scored 16 points off of Atlanta’s turnovers and only allowed two fast break points. As a team that wants to dictate the pace so badly but had yet to do so, this was as close as they came.
And of course, though they did finish just 36.1% from the field, some shots did start to fall.
“I think it’s just understanding the physicality of the game,” Charles said. “We understand they’re a very physical team, but we weren’t getting calls. So (we have to be) strong with (the ball)… The last few games, we were letting them speed us up. So we were mindful of playing at our pace.”
The Valkyries, though, are always going to be who they are. On Saturday, it worked.
“(It was our) defense. I don’t know. I’m sorry if I sound redundant, but we just picked up our ball pressure,” Williams said. “I think we’re a bit more connected today, and that gives us our energy.”
