Are the WNBA Finals a wrap?

It’s the question hanging over the Golden State Valkyries after the Atlanta Dream’s lopsided 97-71 win in Game 3 on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

The Dream leads the series 2-1, and the Valkyries’ dramatic come-from-behind Game 1 victory is quickly becoming a distant memory. Since that game, troubling trends have emerged.

Golden State has led very little in all three games, including Game 1. Atlanta led most of all four quarters on Saturday before the Valkyries mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback to steal the opener.

But since the Dream pulled away in the second half of Game 2, it’s been all Atlanta. The Dream have not trailed since the 8:48 mark of the third quarter of Monday’s game.

And they have the confidence to back it up. After Wednesday’s win, Angel Reese, who has been generally unstoppable, essentially declared that Atlanta will finish the job. Game 4 is Saturday morning in Atlanta, and then the series returns to Chase Center on Monday night in what could be a clincher for the Dream if the Valkyries can’t find a way to stop Reese and Co.

“When we win a championship for the city of Atlanta that has done so much and poured so much into the sports here, that’s what’s going to feel amazing more than anything,” Reese told reporters in Atlanta.

Reese scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in Game 3, making her the first player in WNBA history to record a double-double in each of her first three Finals games. She joined five-time MVP A’ja Wilson as the only players to average 21.7 points per game and 13.3 rebounds per game across any three-game stretch of the WNBA Finals.

She was also caught on camera saying “You can’t guard me” to reserve center Aminata Gueye and “She can’t (expletive) with me” to the Valkyries’ bench.

In the face of that resolve, what will the Valkyries do in response?

Gabby Williams and Natalie Nakase both appeared confident in Golden State’s ability to turn things around after Game 3, avoiding making excuses while noting the length of the best-of-seven series.

Nakase seemed particularly unbothered as she discussed bouncing back and what it will take to even the series on Saturday.

“You don’t think they’re confident? They’re fine,” Nakase said of her players. “Our fight has never not been there. This is a long series. We’ve been down before. We’ve come back from games where we’ve been down. It’s a longer series, you guys can map it out like a long game. We’re resilient. We’ve done it before. They know that.”

She took responsibility for the losses and said she needed to figure out “a couple different schemes that could be a little bit more aggressive.”

But what are those answers? Golden State wasn’t particularly good in any facet on Wednesday.

The Valkyries shot just 34.8% from the field (24 of 69), which was their best percentage of the series, and allowed their highest point total in regulation since Game 1 of their 2025 playoff series against the Minnesota Lynx.

Though they perhaps relied on it more than was ideal – Atlanta had a 44-20 edge in paint points – the Valkyries did shoot 40% from 3 on 30 attempts. That breakthrough was powered by strong performances for Cecilia Zandalasini and Janelle Salaün, who went a combined 7 of 10 from deep.

Williams went 3 of 8 from 3 but again struggled from the field overall, making 5 of 18 attempts and finishing with 15 points.

She refused to blame her knee, which Dream guard Jordin Canada landed on late in Game 1 after Williams shot a free throw, for her performance. But Williams was seen postgame with ice on her knee and was out of rhythm for much of the game.

“Yes,” she said when asked if her knee was OK. “Sometimes shots don’t fall. We don’t want to make it about offense. They score 97, we have no chance. We have to just go back to our defense, and that will get our offense going.”

The Valkyries have sung the refrain of defense intensity powering offensive efficiency all season, and they aren’t stopping now. But without dramatic improvement on both sides of the ball, Atlanta could be celebrating a championship when the series returns to Ballhalla on Monday.

“I think it’s a lot of us being undisciplined, being really loose with the ball,” said veteran guard Tiffany Hayes, one of the four Valkyries with previous Finals experience. “It’s very uncharacteristic of us. We got to get back to who we are. If they bring some pressure, we have to stay together. We have to not get flustered, just give the ball up. We need to make some adjustments.”

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