The Atlanta Dream currently hold much of the momentum in the WNBA Finals, but the Golden State Valkyries refuse to panic.
“It is a long series. So I think we’re still very positive. We know what we can fix. (A) lot of it is dealing with ourselves. So we just gotta look in the mirror first and then move forward,” Valkyries center Kiah Stokes said Thursday during a Finals availability. “This is a long series. I think positivity and energy is still high, and we got another chance to steal one on Saturday (Oct. 24), and then the series has evened up. And then, it’s best of three.”
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The Valkyries are currently down 2-1 to the Dream after talking the first game of the WNBA Finals. The Dream and Angel Reese have turned up the intensity, winning Games 2 and 3 by forcing Golden State into some of its worst offensive performances of the year while turning them over at a high rate.
On Wednesday, Atlanta returned home and hung nearly 100 points in a 97-71 victory against the league’s best defense and forced a staggering 17 turnovers. The Dream also shot 49% from from the field and won the paint battle 44-20, something it hadn’t been able to successfully do against the Valkyries.
Reese, who has been the best player in the WNBA Finals, earned her third straight double-double. The Dream forward finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Following the matchup, Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase lamented the team getting away from its identity in Game 3, and placed much of the blame on her shoulders.
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“We tried to make the adjustment in terms of taking care of the ball. Seventeen (turnovers) is just way too many. We have to be a little bit more, I’d say, composed in moments of ― when we look to attack, it’s like looking at that next layer,” Nakase said.
“Sometimes, some of our players, like to put a lot on their shoulders. They wanna do it for the team … We’re trying to do it a little bit too much for myself, but it’s like, it’s not a selfish thing. I wanna do what’s right for the team. I wanna help the team.”
Still, the players put the onus on themselves to be better when the pressure is high and the stakes are even higher.
“I think (this is) all about us being undisciplined. We don’t really lose the ball. So, again, very uncharacteristic of us,” Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes said postgame. “We have to get back to who we are. They bring some pressure, we got to stay together. We gotta not get flustered, just giving the ball up. So I think it’s us that has to make some adjustments.”
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Golden State will play the Dream again on Sat. Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock) at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The Valkyries look to even the series before it returns to San Francisco for Game 5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dream have rattled the Valkyries. Golden State insists it won’t panic
