Valkyries sounding alarm ahead of Game 6 in Finals vs. Dream

ATLANTA -- The Golden State Valkyries will be out to manifest a champagne brunch when they take the floor against the Atlanta Dream in Game 6 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday afternoon.

The second-year club has a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and can wrap up the first championship in franchise history with a victory. Game 7, if necessary, will be in San Francisco on Saturday.

Forget the odd weekday afternoon starting time. A team known for its defense won't waste its time trying to justify the league's decision to have a 12:30 p.m. ET opening tip Thursday. The Valkyries will focus on the job at hand, just like much of the rest of the country will be doing at their own workplaces.

With a start time of 9:30 a.m. for West Coast viewers, Golden State guard Veronica Burton offered a suggestion to the team's frenzied Bay Area fan base.

"Call in sick. I recommend it," Burton said.

The Valkyries have offered reasons to believe. Once down 2-1 series, head coach Natalie Nakase's group never strayed from the grinding style of play that got Golden State this far. The Valkyries gave up a league-best 75.1 points per game in the regular season and are allowing 76.0 through 11 playoff games.

In consecutive victories that allowed the team to regain control of the series, Golden State has held Atlanta to an average of 58.5 points.

"Defense wins championships," Nakase said. "We talked about leveling up in the playoffs, especially in the Finals. As boring as that sounds, when you just put all your energy and all your fight into your defensive schemes, it's going to be really hard to get into your first action or any of your sets if you're being pressured -- and we can do that one through five."

After allowing 97 points in a Game 3 loss, Golden State has limited the Dream to a combined 31.1% shooting clip in the last two games and a 10 of 49 (20.4%) from 3-point range.

The Valkyries got just enough offense from Kiah Stokes and Burton in Game 3 when the duo contributed 13 points apiece in a 64-55 Game 5 win in San Francisco on Monday.

Atlanta has looked bewildered since its last win in the series last Wednesday. Dream stars Allisha Gray and Angel Reese have gone cold, shooting 5 of 19 and 4 of 20 from the field, respectively, in the last two games.

Second-year Dream head coach Karl Smesko isn't making any excuses for his team's lackluster performances.

"I don't think we're tired. We're playing hard," Smesko said. "Defensively we're playing very well. We just need to put a good offensive game together in this next game, and then we'll be in position to do what we're intending to do. Nothing's changed. We win two games, we're champions."

Despite the early start time, the Dream expect a rowdy home crowd at State Farm Arena. The WNBA game was moved to the afternoon because of a schedule conflict with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, who will use the venue later Thursday for a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For Nakase, the primary challenge remains the same: Contain the Dream for another 40 minutes to lift a trophy and have the remainder of the day to bask in the accomplishment.

"There's a team out there that wants it just as bad," Nakase said of Atlanta. "You can't overlook that. That's going to be a very ruthless Atlanta team that wants it as much as we do.

"You can never count them out. They are well-coached. They are well-balanced. They have dogs. They have great leadership. We have to go in with the mindset of being mentally tough and more connected than ever."

--By Jack Batten, Field Level Media