Valkyries 64, Dream 55: defense carries Golden State to a 3-2 lead

Golden State did not need a dominant scoring night to move within one win of the WNBA championship. It needed to make Atlanta's offense work for almost everything. The Valkyries won Game 5, 64-55, on Monday and lead the Finals 3-2.

Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes each scored 13 points. Their more unusual shared contribution came at the other end: Burton blocked four shots and Stokes three. Golden State finished with nine blocks, while Atlanta made just 19 of its 65 field-goal attempts, 29.2 percent.

Those blocks do not account for every miss, and the box score cannot assign every contested attempt to a particular defender. But seven blocks from two players are a substantial part of a night when the Dream struggled to turn possessions into baskets.

Enough scoring, very little room

Stokes made five of her six shots, including three of four from beyond the arc. Tiffany Hayes and Cecilia Zandalasini added 12 points apiece. That balance mattered with Gabby Williams scoring nine on 3-for-14 shooting. The Valkyries had four double-figure scorers without their offense looking effortless.

Golden State shot 39.3 percent overall and made six threes. Atlanta also made six. This was not a three-point avalanche deciding the game. The Valkyries made 18 two-point baskets to the Dream's 13, a ten-point difference; Atlanta's one extra made free throw reduced the final margin to nine.

Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 20 points. Jordin Canada scored 12, Allisha Gray 10, and Angel Reese collected 15 rebounds. Those individual contributions kept the Dream in a low-scoring game, but 55 points left too little room for error against a team getting useful scoring from several places.

Game 6 now has a confirmed afternoon start

Atlanta's official Playoff Central now lists Game 6 for Thursday, October 29, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern at State Farm Arena. That supersedes the earlier 8 p.m. listing and the unresolved arrangements described in Sunday's reporting. Readers making plans should use the new afternoon time.

The teams return to Atlanta with different tasks. Golden State needs one more victory; the Dream need two. Game 6 is an elimination game for Atlanta, not a championship already won by the Valkyries.