The Golden State Valkyries are one win away from their first championship, extending their dominance from the Game 4 victory at State Farm Arena to win Game 5 as the teams returned to Chase Center. The 64-55 matchup in Game 5 saw the Valkyries hold the Atlanta Dream to their lowest score all season to make the series score 3-2. Now, as the teams head back to State Farm for a must-win game for the Dream, Valkyries star Kiah Stokes dropped somewhat surprising comments about Chase Center.
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After the resounding Game 5 win, Kiah Stokes and Veronica Burton faced the media during the press conference on the WNBA’s YouTube channel. The pair were asked what their mentality was going into a possible closeout Game 6, and after Burton said that they were approaching every game as a must-win situation, Stokes added her blunt take on the matter.
“It doesn’t matter what time it is, at the end of the day we just need 94 feet, two hoops, and each other. And like she [Burton] said, it’s a close-out game. Atlanta is a great team, and we don’t want to give them basically any life. So as much as we love Balhalla, we don’t wanna come back here. So we need to go in with the mentality that we have to win. It’s do or die.”
With this comment, the Valkyries have made their intentions of ending things in Game 6 very clear, hoping to crush the Dream’s championship ambition before they can force Game 7 back at Ballhalla. Stokes’ comment reflected the team’s closeout mentality; it is definitely not a critique of Ballhalla.
In the seven-game Finals series, the Valkyries now lead 3-2 after their latest win. Winning one more game will seal the Dream’s fate, pushing the Golden State to its first-ever championship. Winning this season, their second year in the league, would make them the youngest expansion franchise in WNBA history to win a championship. And looking at the performances Kiah Stokes is putting in, she might be on her way to her first WNBA Finals MVP award as well.
Stokes added another three blocks in Game 5 to further extend her WNBA record for the most blocks in a Finals series. She crossed the previous record of 12 set by Sylvia Fowles and Brittney Griner with 14 blocks in the first four Finals games against the Dream. For the second game in a row, Kiah Stokes prevented Angel Reese from making the double-doubles the young forward made in the first three games. Game 4 saw Reese score only eight points, mainly due to Stokes’ guarding.
Stokes’ elite guarding held Reese to a playoff low of seven points. Reese did still manage to make 15 rebounds, but Stokes and the Valkyries’ defense ensured that she wasn’t able to score as effectively as the Dream would like. Golden State turned up defensive pressure, and Reese ended the night shooting 2-of-8 from the field. The scoring torch was carried instead by Rhyne Howard, who bagged 20 points, followed by 12 points by Jordin Canada. But nothing they did could overcome the Valkyries in Game 5.
Kiah Stokes ended the night with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds, matching Veronica Burton’s stat sheet. The arena boomed with chants of “MVP” as Stokes gave her on-court interview. And she sent that love back to Ballhalla.
“This fanbase, y’all are amazing,” said Stokes. “We couldn’t do this without y’all. You guys are really our sixth man all season. We appreciate you, but we not done yet.”
But there is another problem awaiting both teams in Atlanta as Game 6 approaches.
Game 6 tipoff time changed as the NBA keeps the prime spot
The Atlanta Dream will need to find a solution to their Kiah Stokes problem if they intend to force Game 7. Stokes has been a thorn in their side, disallowing Reese from making the shots that led the Dream to victory in Games 2 and 3. But a larger problem was posed by their home arena, the Gateway Center.
The Dream have played all their home playoff game this season at the State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks have been accommodating all season, as they didn’t have any important games. Now that the NBA regular season is in full swing, it is causing a scheduling crisis. The crisis initially arose because Gateway Center can house a maximum of 1,500 fans, which is significantly lower than the number of fans who would like to attend a WNBA Finals game.
State Farm Arena, however, can house over 17,600 fans. The Hawks are set to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, October 29, the same night as the WNBA Finals is to be held. As the Cavs game could not be moved to another date or time, the WNBA Finals between the Valkyries and the Dream will start at 12.30 pm in the afternoon, while the Cavs-Hawks game will be pushed back by an hour to prepare the arena after the WNBA game, keeping their prime-time spot.
While this is not ideal for either team, the Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase’s statement about the change should instill confidence in Golden State fans.
“What’s amazing is we’re always prepped for anything,” Nakase said. “So we’ve already scheduled. Made it really intentional. Main thing, rest and recover as best we can. We’ve had six games in 10 days during the regular season. So yeah, it’s really not affecting us. It’s just more we can control what we can control, and that’s rest and recovery.”
With both teams fighting to win their very first WNBA championship, Game 6 will either crown the Valkyries the 2026 Champions, or the Dream will force Game 7, which will be the ultimate tie-breaker for the ultimate prize – the shimmering silver trophy.