4 minSports
Valkyries beat Dream 67-62 to even WNBA Finals at 2-2
The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, evening the series at two games apiece as Angel Reese struggled badly on offense.
The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 on Saturday at State Farm Arena, tying the best-of-seven WNBA Finals at 2-2. Gabby Williams led a defensive performance that kept Atlanta from finding a rhythm, while Angel Reese, the Dream's most visible player, had one of the worst games of the series.
Reese finished with eight points and nine rebounds on 2-for-12 shooting and committed six turnovers. The performance followed two dominant games in which she and her teammates had combined for 51 points and 28 rebounds in Atlanta's two victories. Before Game 4, Reese had said Friday that she could take Golden State's confidence and "mess them up," and she had also said, "They're playing into my mental game." Her struggles were most visible at the rim, where she missed layup after layup at moments when Atlanta needed her to convert.
Reese went scoreless in the first quarter and reached halftime with four points, three rebounds, five turnovers and three fouls, two of them offensive. Atlanta's problems extended beyond her. The Dream committed 14 first-half turnovers and attempted just 19 shots to Golden State's 40. Reese's hook shot with 6:15 left in the second quarter was Atlanta's last field goal of the half. The Valkyries closed the period on an 18-6 run to take a 42-26 lead into the break.
Atlanta made a push in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to six on Isobel Borlase's three-pointer with 4:27 remaining. Golden State answered with consecutive baskets from Tiffany Hayes and Gabby Williams and carried a 54-45 lead into the fourth. Reese scored two points in the third, both at the foul line, and picked up her fourth foul in the closing seconds of the period.
The Dream got within six twice in the fourth quarter. After Veronica Burton's three-pointer pushed Golden State's lead to 64-55 with 4:23 remaining, Reese missed a layup, grabbed her own rebound and missed the tip. She later missed a 5-foot hook, and Kiah Stokes blocked one of her attempts at the rim. Reese finally made a driving layup with 1:36 left, her first field goal since the second quarter, cutting the margin to 64-59.
Atlanta still had a chance, but Allisha Gray and Borlase missed threes on the same possession, and Burton's jumper with 34.6 seconds left stretched the lead back to seven. Rhyne Howard's three-point play brought the Dream within four with 28.7 seconds remaining. Burton made one of two free throws, and Atlanta's final possession ended with another Reese mistake. She grabbed two offensive rebounds to keep the play alive, then threw a pass that Williams stole with 9.8 seconds left. It was her sixth turnover of the game.
The Dream also hurt themselves at the foul line, finishing 22-for-31, and Gray picked up her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. Both teams again stayed off the court for the national anthem before tipoff, marking their fourth straight absence in the series. They left moments before the performance and returned seconds after it ended.
The result returns the series to a deciding stretch. Game 5 is Monday at Chase Center in San Francisco, where the Valkyries will have home-court advantage, as the WNBA Finals head back to the Bay Area even at two games apiece.
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