While trailing 51-28, Golden State Valkyries forward Veronica Burton was initially issued a common foul for her chase-down smack to the face of Atlanta Dream star Rhyne Howard in the third quarter of Game 6 of the WNBA Finals.

In front of a packed State Farm Arena for the 12:30 PM tip-off time, Dream guard Tiffany Hayes passed to Howard, who averaged 17.7 points per game this season, in transition for what looked like an easy layup. Burton emerged from behind and collided with the Atlanta player near the rim.

Howard remained on the ground in pain — teammates quickly covered her in towels — as Hayes motioned to the referee for the common foul to be reviewed and potentially upgraded. It was, and the Golden State player was issued a flagrant foul one, resulting in two free throws and possession. Howard made both.

Burton was let off the hook for an aggressive foul on Howard in Game 5 in Golden State, hitting the Atlanta player in the face with both hands. No foul was called.

This wasn't the only foul that Dream players wanted called, and coach Karl Smesko stood by fellow star Angel Reese for not getting her share of whistles.

"I give [the Valkyries] credit for playing good defense; they're known for their defense," Smesko said. "But I want to have Angel's back here. The contact on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous. Just ridiculous."

"Both teams really want to win this," Nakase said. "These are two defensive-minded teams ... they like physicality, so that's part of it. I ain't shocked about this. You have an Atlanta Dream team that's well-coached, that has dogs, same as us."

Golden State coach Natalie Nakase, the WNBA's Coach of the Year, emphasized that the physicality goes both ways.

"Both teams really want to win this," Nakase said. "These are two defensive-minded teams ... they like physicality, so that's part of it. I ain't shocked about this. You have an Atlanta Dream team that's well-coached, that have dogs, same as us."

More to come....