On Thursday, the Atlanta Dream hosted Game 6 of the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The game ended up tipping off at 12:30 pm ET local time after immense scheduling drama, due to the fact that the Atlanta Hawks had a home game later that evening against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, fans in Atlanta still found a way to show up and show out for their team on Thursday, despite the game coming in the middle of a workday.
It was the second time this series that there had been a scheduling conflict with the Hawks. Previously, for Game 4 of the series, the Hawks had agreed to move their game against the Houston Rockets back an hour in order to allow the Dream to play earlier in the day at State Farm Arena.
This time, the Hawks once again pushed their matchup against the Cavaliers back to accommodate the Dream, with many on social media criticizing the WNBA's lack of planning in this regard.
The alternative option would have been for the Dream to host the Valkyries at the Gateway Center in College Park, Georgia, which has a capacity of about one-fifth of the size of the State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta.
For their part, the Dream held up their end of the bargain in this one, getting out to a 27-10 lead in the first quarter of Game 6, hoping to push the series back to Golden State for a decisive Game 7, which would be on Saturday.