Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State
Valkyries 97-71 for a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals
[October 22, 2026]
By DOUG FEINBERG
ATLANTA (AP) — Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream are halfway toward
their ultimate goal of winning the franchise's first WNBA
championship.
They know there is still work to do. But with a huge Atlanta crowd
behind them and Reese dominating the last two games, there's reason
to believe in a team that never even had a WNBA Finals win until
this series.
Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Dream beat the
Golden State Valkyries 97-71 on Wednesday night and take a 2-1 lead.
It was the second straight strong game for Reese, who had 30 points
and 16 rebounds in Game 2, which the Dream also won for their first
victory ever in the championship round. She has a double-double in
each game of the finals.
“It feels good when you’re in the finals. It’s a long season and you
play against everybody and go through and push through, but when you
can do it at the highest level, this is what you live for, this is
what the offseason is for," Reese said. "I put the work in for this
moment and I’m just happy I could lead the team to a win. We’re
feeling good going into Saturday.”
That game will also be played at State Farm Arena. Both games in
Atlanta were originally set for the Gateway Center Arena, where the
Dream play most of their home games. The league was able to work
with the Atlanta Hawks to play Games 3 and 4 there so that they
could have a much bigger crowd. Gateway only seats 3,500. State Farm
Arena can seat more than 17,000 fans.
And they made a difference.
“Protect home court,” said Atlanta's Rhyne Howard, who had 16 points
and five steals. “Giving our fans a show. We fought for this arena
so we had to protect it. It’s big. We went and stole one but we
can’t let them come in and do the same thing.”
With the game tied at 49 in the third quarter, Atlanta scored eight
straight, including four by Reese. Golden State got within 59-55 on
Tiffany Hayes’ layup, but could get no closer as Atlanta closed the
quarter scoring 12 of the final 14 points.
“I’m most proud of the second half because the first few possessions
were a little sloppy. I was really close to using a timeout. They
pulled together on their own and got it worked out, cleaned it up
themselves,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. “They knew what
mistakes they were making, and they huddled up. And then they
started making plays, and it started. The crowd started getting
behind it.”
Atlanta has dominated the third quarter so far in the series,
outscoring Golden State 63-35 combined in the three games.
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Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) celebrates scoring during the
first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the
Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP
Photo/Brynn Anderson)
With Atlanta up 17 in the fourth quarter, Jordin
Canada overthrew Reese on the break, but she saved the ball by
throwing it over her head underneath the basket to Howard, who got
fouled.
Golden State could never recover. Gabby Williams scored 15 points
and Hayes added 14 for the Valkyries.
“Disappointed in our fight. This game they wanted it more than us,”
Hayes said. “That’s not who we are, who we’ve been and how we got
here.”
Wednesday night’s game was sold out, as is Game 4 on Saturday. The
crowd included many music stars, including Ludacris. Former NBA
player Enes Kanter Freedom said he was going to be at the game. The
Atlanta Dream and State Farm Arena offered him a private suite for
his protection. He refused to sit in it and left the arena.
The game got off to a slow start as Atlanta led 9-1 after the first
five minutes. Golden State missed its first eight shots before
Aminata Gueye scored the first basket for the Valkyries with 4:39
left. They got within 13-10 before Naz Hillmon hit consecutive
3-pointers and then Reese hit one. The Dream led 23-15 after the
opening quarter.
The hot 3-point shooting continued in the second quarter as Atlanta
built its lead to 37-26 midway through the period. Golden State was
able to hang around and only trailed 46-40 at the break as the teams
combined to shoot 15-for-31 (48%) from behind the arc. That was more
made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes then in either Game 1 or
Game 2.
Reese had 15 points and WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Janelle Salaun
had 11 for the Valkyries.
Game 1 and 2 had huge ratings with the opener on NBC averaging 2.1
million, the most ever to watch a first game of the Finals. Game 2,
which was broadcast on USA Network, averaged 1.33 million viewers.
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