The Dream Finally Got One: Why Atlanta's First Finals Win Could Mean Something Bigger
For the first time in franchise history, the Atlanta Dream can say they have won a WNBA Finals game. But Game 2 felt bigger than simply getting one victory.
For the first time in franchise history, the Atlanta Dream can say they have won a WNBA Finals game.
But Game 2 against the Golden State Valkyries felt bigger than simply getting one victory.
Atlanta responded to a frustrating Game 1 loss by beating Golden State 79–65, tying the best-of-seven Finals at 1–1 and sending the series back to Atlanta with momentum firmly on the Dream's side.
And at the center of it all was Angel Reese.
Reese finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds, becoming the youngest player in WNBA history to record at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a Finals game. After struggling to make her usual impact late in Game 1, she came into Game 2 determined to be more aggressive — and Atlanta followed her lead.
Angel Reese — Game 2
But this Dream team is dangerous because Reese isn't doing it alone.
Jordin Canada controlled the game with 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Allisha Gray added 18 points. Rhyne Howard disrupted Golden State defensively and set a Finals record with six steals. Atlanta forced 18 turnovers and converted those mistakes into 24 points.
That combination is what makes this version of the Dream feel different.
Atlanta has been to the Finals before. The franchise reached the championship round in 2010, 2011 and 2013 but failed to win a game in any of those series.
This team has now broken through.
They have scoring. They have rebounding. They have multiple perimeter defenders. They have a point guard who can organize the offense. They have veteran experience from DeWanna Bonner. And they have Reese, whose energy and physicality can completely change the personality of a game.
The Dream also showed something just as important in Game 2: they can respond when things don't go their way.
Golden State's defense controlled critical stretches of Game 1, holding Atlanta to eight fourth-quarter points in a 68–64 Valkyries win. Instead of allowing that loss to linger, Atlanta came back two nights later and imposed its own identity.
Now the series moves to Atlanta, where Games 3 and 4 were moved to State Farm Arena to accommodate increased demand.
The championship is far from decided.
Golden State has already shown how difficult it can be to score against its defense, and Gabby Williams remains capable of taking over a game.
But Atlanta has already accomplished something no Dream team before it could do.
They won a Finals game. And sometimes one breakthrough is all a team needs to start believing another one is possible.