{"id":935780,"date":"2026-10-17T00:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/935780\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T00:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T00:14:09","slug":"wnbas-top-defensive-teams-dream-and-valkyries-are-in-finals-professional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/935780\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA’s top defensive teams, Dream and Valkyries, are in finals | Professional"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Golden State forward Kayla Thornton knows every basket in the WNBA Finals will be tough to come by, given how much the Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream take pride in making stops.<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s two best defensive teams are about to square off for a championship in a best-of-seven series that could be low-scoring. The Valkyries play host to Game 1 today with their raucous \u201cBallhalla\u201d home crowd to back them on the biggest stage this second-year franchise<\/a> has reached.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the top two in the league,\u201d Thornton said, \u201cso I think it comes down to just the details and who wants it more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dream star Angel Reese loves to get involved in every play and wreak havoc, whether by forcing jump balls or making steals. The Dream have four of the top seven players in steals this postseason, led by Jordan Canada and Rhyne Howard at 2.2 per game. Golden State\u2019s Gabby Williams is averaging 1.7 steals in the playoffs, while Reese has a 1.6 steals average.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to get in the passing lanes,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIt\u2019s maybe going to be a game where good offense leads to good defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlanta is chasing the first championship in franchise history after losing in the Finals three times in four years in 2010-13. Atlanta lost in the first round the past three seasons but enters this series on a 10-game winning streak dating to the final game before the break for the women\u2019s FIBA World Cup.<\/p>\n

The Dream swept Washington and New York in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody thought that we would make it to the Finals and we\u2019re doing that, we\u2019re achieving that,\u201d Howard said. \u201cWe set out goals long before this year and it\u2019s finally coming into fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s status remains in doubt<\/p>\n

Dream forward Allisha Gray took part in a light practice Friday and will be a game-time decision for Game 1 after missing the last two games of the semifinal series with an injured left ring finger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just waiting to see how my finger reacts to just the pace and intensity of the practice, and then we\u2019ll know,\u201d Gray said.<\/p>\n

From expansion to Finals in 2 seasons<\/p>\n

The Valkyries are the fastest expansion team to reach the WNBA Finals by getting there in their second year \u2013 one year faster than Atlanta did in 2010. They did it by eliminating the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Other expansion teams have had quick success like Golden State. The NHL\u2019s Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season in 2017-18 and the Chicago Fire won the Major League Soccer title in their first season in 1998.<\/p>\n

But the Valkyries have a chance to set a record. The fastest expansion champion in the modern era for the WNBA, NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB was the Milwaukee Bucks, who won the NBA Finals in their third season in 1970-71.<\/p>\n

Nakase believed in Golden State<\/p>\n

The magnitude of the moment doesn\u2019t seem to faze Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase<\/a>, who was on Becky Hammon\u2019s Las Vegas staff when the Aces won back-to-back titles in 2022 and \u201823. Nakase served as an assistant for the champion U.S. team in last month\u2019s FIBA World Cup in Berlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just me, I don\u2019t feel alone in this at all,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like this is going to be a collective effort about us putting all of our high IQs together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Championship pedigrees<\/p>\n

The Valkyries have plenty of championship-tested players who can offer some insight. Thornton won it all with the Liberty in 2024. Kiah Stokes earned rings with the Aces under Nakase in 2022 and \u201923 then another last year. Cecilia Zandalasini won a title with Minnesota in 2017.<\/p>\n

Stokes is averaging 9.5 rebounds this postseason, ranking her third and top among players in the finals. Reese is next among players from these teams at 8.4 rebounds.<\/p>\n

The Dream have three players who have won WNBA titles with DeWanna Bonner doing it in 2009 and \u201914 with Phoenix, Jordin Canada in 2018 and \u201920 with Seattle, and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough in 2019 with Washington.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Golden State forward Kayla Thornton knows every basket in the WNBA Finals will be tough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,28061,82,630],"class_list":["post-935780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-professional","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}