The Atlanta Dream’s shooters finally found some daylight.And as a result, the Dream’s goal of winning their first WNBA championship is still shining bright.Allisha Gray scored 23 points and Rhyne Howard had 21 as the hot-shooting Dream held off Golden State’s late rally to take an 80-69 victory over the Valkyries in Game 6 on Thursday and pull even in the WNBA Finals.The decisive Game 7 will be played at Golden State on Saturday night as each team seeks its first WNBA championship.After having their lowest scoring games of the Finals in losses in Games 4 and 5, the Dream enjoyed an offensive awakening when faced with the must-win mandate.“It’s been frustrating for all of us not being able to shoot great ...and open shots that we have been getting, not hitting them at the right time,” said Atlanta’s Angel Reese, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
“And I always told the girls it’s not going to rain forever.And we were able to maximize that moment today.
The sun peaked out a little bit more today and gave us an opportunity to see Game 7.”The Valkyries defense was dominant in a 67-62 Game 4 win and a 64-55 win in Game 5.That left Golden State with a 3-2 series lead and an opportunity to clinch the championship on Thursday.
Instead, the Dream claimed the defensive advantage and took commanding leads of 32-15 after the first quarter and 46-26 at halftime.“The way we started in the first quarter was unacceptable on our end,” Golden State guard Veronica Burton said.“You can’t let that happen out of the gate.”After being held to 22 points in the first half of their Game 5 loss, the Dream matched that total in the first 6:30 of the opening quarter.“We knew they were going to be desperate,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said of the Dream.
“For us not to match that is disappointing and frustrating.“This is the Finals.The physicality is supposed to be up.
You want to have that physicality.You want to have tha...