In the immortal words of Atlanta legend Zaza Pachulia: “We’re going to Game 7, baby! Game 7!” The Atlanta Dream kept their season alive with an 80-69 victory over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 6 of the 2026 Finals on Thursday afternoon to even the series at 3-3 and force Game 7 – the first in WNBA history – back in San Francisco on Saturday.
In front of a sold-out crowd ready to go wild despite the early start time, the Dream went on a 13-0 run almost immediately and built a 17-point lead by the end of the first quarter. They led by 25 points early in the second quarter and looked like they were going to knock the Valkyries out of the gym.
The second half wasn’t quite as good as the first, however, and while the Dreams never felt like they were in danger of losing, they had to hold off a late surge from the Valkyries, who cut the deficit to eight by the end of the fourth quarter.
Allisha Gray, who scored a 3-pointer from the corner to officially put the game away, finished with 23 points, while Rhyne Howard added 21 in what was the highest-scoring game of the Finals for the Dream’s two backcourt stars. Angel Reese had another rough shooting night, but had 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while the Dream as a team shot 13 of 30 (43.3%) from 3-point range in their best shooting game of the Finals.
Gabby Williams scored 26 points in the loss for the Valkyries, who also got 15 points from Tiffany Hayes, but no one else managed to reach double figures.
Here are some winners and losers from Game 6:
Winners: Atlanta fans
THE WNBA decision to hold Game 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET was met lots of criticism and confusionbut the people of Atlanta made the best of an unfortunate situation. Game 6 was a sellout; the crowd inside State Farm Arena was ready to go from the start and kept the party going throughout the afternoon.
T-Pain even showed up to a halftime show in what was surely the first performance of his illustrious career.
The energy inside the arena was a major factor in the Dream’s hot start, which effectively decided the match. They went on a 13-0 run in the opening minutes and never looked back. At the end of the first quarter, they led by 17, which was enough of an advantage to carry them through to the end of the game.
Loser: Kiah Stokes
Stokes was receiving MVP chants after Game 5 and had a legitimate chance to win Finals MVP with another strong performance and a win on Thursday. Instead, she had her least effective performance of the series.
Stokes went scoreless, grabbed just seven rebounds and didn’t block a single shot in 20 minutes. All of those scores were tied for the lowest in the series, and the Valkyries were -25 with her on the floor. On a personal level, Stokes’ chances of winning Finals MVP almost certainly disappeared after his second scoreless outing of the series.
The Valkyries need Stokes to control the paint in Game 7 if they want to come away with the first title in Finals history.
Winner: Allisha Gray
It’s been a tough series for the four-time All-Star, who is dealing with a hand injury that kept her sidelined for most of the semifinals and required a “minor” procedure just before the final.
Through the first five games, Gray averaged 12 points on 28.1 percent shooting from the field, including 5 of 26 (19.2 percent) from 3-point range, and had as many turnovers as he did assists (nine). His ineffective play was a big reason why the Dream found themselves down 3-2 heading into Thursday.
In the sixth game, Gray finally intervened. She scored Atlanta’s first two baskets, and her 3-pointer from the corner with 56 seconds remaining was the dagger. Gray finished with a team-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 5-of-7 3-pointers, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks.
She had exactly as many points in Game 6 as she did in Games 3-5 combined, and made as many 3s as she did in the first five games combined.
Loser: Veronica Burton’s Offensive
Four minutes into Game 6, Veronica Burton was alone under the basket and missed a wide-open layup that would have brought the Valkyries within a point. As she lay on the ground, Naz Hillmon accidentally kicked her in the face. That pretty much sums up this series for Burton.
Burton was incredible on the defensive end and did all the dirty work, but took immense punishment for his troubles and got nothing on the offensive end. She finished Game 6 with eight points on 2-of-13 from the field and missed all six of her 3-point attempts.
It was the third time in six games that Burton failed to reach double figures in this series, and she is now averaging 8.8 points on 26.5 percent shooting from the field, including 6 of 29 (20.7 percent) from 3-point range. Burton isn’t known for her scoring, but that just isn’t enough, especially when she’s shooting as much as she has in the last three games.
1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 28.6% |
2 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 44.4% |
3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 14.3% |
4 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 23.5% |
5 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 33.3% |
6 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 15.4% |
Winner: The WNBA
The league must be thrilled that the Dream won, if only to avoid the bad press surrounding crowning a champion at lunchtime on a Thursday, and the logistics of holding a trophy ceremony while State Farm Arena staff tried to get them off the field in order to swap the court for the Atlanta Hawks game later Thursday night.
In the end, the WNBA got largely everything it wanted: a sellout crowd at State Farm Arena, the first Game 7 in league history and no rushed celebrations. And it only cost them a few days of bad press.
Gn sports
