ATLANTA– Of all the adjustments the Golden State Valkyries had to make heading into Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, down 2-1 in a hostile road environment, none were going to matter unless they rekindled their fire. Reconfiguring their spacing, cutting down on turnovers, guarding Angel Reese: none of it was going to translate unless they got back to playing their brand of basketball.
The kind of basketball that suffocates opponents with their endless supply of energy. The kind of basketball that demoralizes teams with their inability to quit. The Valkyries' way of unselfish, egoless basketball that continues to defy logic, as Veronica Burton said on the eve of Game 4 in the wake of their lowest moment of the season.
“There's been moments in games this season where it feels like there's no way we're gonna win this,” Veronica Burton said Friday, on the eve of Game 4. “And you could say that there's no way the Valkyries are gonna be here, whatever it may be. And you find a way, and you will it out, and you do it together, and you grind it out. That's what has allowed us to get here… Logistically, it doesn't make much sense, but you come together, and you find a way to do it, and that's what it comes down to.”
And that's what it came down to, as Golden State gutted out a 67-62 victory over the Atlanta Dream. Sure, there were tactical adjustments like Natalie Nakase swapping in Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles for Cecilia Zandalasini and Kayla Thornton to shake up the starting lineup. And there were schematic changes the Valkyries made, like leaning more on the pick-and-roll and forcing Reese to her left hand.
But at the center of the hurricane that was the Valkyries diving on the floor, flying in for rebounds, sprinting back to save layups, had little to do with the X's and O's drawn up on the whiteboard. It was the grit they built back in their thunderous 16-point comeback in Game 3 against Dallas Wings. It was the composure they gained from felling five-time MVP A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces three games in a row in the semifinals. And it was the heart they've forged as a collective; as a team unshaken
“We had the energy,” an out-of-breath Charles said after the game. “We punched first, and we kind of dictated (the game). And the most important part is obviously they're a great team, so when they were trying to make their run, we didn't fold. We didn't put our heads down. We just continued to keep punching and keep punching, and we were able to get the win.”
The Valkyries must set the tone
The Valkyries' punch began with their star Gabby Williams, who took it upon herself right after Game 3 to fire up the team by giving an animated speech in the post-game huddle.
“If I want to lead my team, I have to be the one that sets the tone. I have to lead by example,” Williams said of her leadership style and how it changed between Games 3 and 4 after collecting a team-high 17 points. “That motivated me to set the tempo today, start off the game with a lot of aggressiveness. And before the game, I just talked to the team about not having regrets. And that the beauty of our sport is– as bad as we felt on Wednesday, we get to turn around and make it right up today.”
That emphasis on starting the game aggressively showed early as the Valkyries wrestled control of the possession battle through sheer will.
Whether it was center Kiah Stokes collecting a series-high 16 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive glass, Williams and Zandalasini lurking in the passing lanes, Charles and Thornton crashing the boards with reckless abandon, or Veronica Burton doing Veronica Burton things, Golden State neutralized their inefficient shooting through brute force. At halftime, Golden State outshot the Dream 40-to-19, won the turnover battle 4-to-13, and dominated the stock differential 8-to-3.
But the Dream refused to die, rattling off a 14-4 run in the third quarter that dwindled the Valkyries' lead to 46-40. But even with the offense stuck in the mud, Golden State began nailing timely buckets, starting with Hayes wrapping a layup around Reese's outstretched arms to blunt the raucous Atlanta crowd.
Still, as crunch time neared and the Dream continued to close the distance, it was clear someone on the Valkyries was going to have to make some big-time shots. And, true to the Valkyries' ethos, their emphasis on the small, intangible things that add up to winning, Burton, the player who embodies it best, stepped into the spotlight.
It was Burton, who'd been smacked in the face and thrown to the floor all game long, who drained a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Valkyries up 64-55 with 4:23 left in the game. It was Burton who spun her way from the contest of Rhyne Howard to nail the decisive dagger to extend the Golden State lead to seven with 33.6 seconds on the clock. It didn't matter that it wasn't her night offensively, shooting just 4-of-17 from the field. Because just like she did against the Wings and the Aces, she found her shot when it mattered.
“She's our heart and soul of the team,” Nakase said of Burton's fight. “Probably like 10 times, she probably got knocked down. That girl is resilient. She's literally our leader in terms of– never quit, fall down, get back up, things are not going our way, it's all right. She finished with that shot. She said, ‘ I got it. I got the isolation.' And she just attacked her matchup and closed it and really calmed us down.”
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The Valkyries have tied things up heading into Game 4
But for all the heroics the Valkyries pulled off to tie the series at 2-2, the page turns quickly to Game 5 back home in San Francisco on Monday.
“We feel good getting the win. Definitely feel good going home, but we know the job's not done,” Hayes said. “So in order to finish it out, we gotta continue to play like we did today for most of the time. We had a few lapses, but continue to play like that. We'll finish it out.”
Is it possible for the Valkyries to continue to play like that again? They won the possession battle; they held Reese to just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting; they overcame a 31-13 free-throw differential. Everything went their way, and they won by five.
But as Burton said when their backs were against the wall: logic has never applied to the Valkyries. When they have a will, they have a way. And with these finals now essentially a best-of-three series, Golden State has willed their way into a fighting chance.