COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — DeWanna Bonner, the most experienced postseason player in WNBA league history, definitely feels the difference. The mental and physical fatigue, elevated by a cross-country matchup, is setting in ahead of the first Finals Game 6 in league history. 

In the longest WNBA Finals since moving to a best-of-seven format last year – and after the league’s second 44-game regular season – even the most experienced are in new waters. Bonner, a two-time champion before joining the Atlanta Dream in August, knows it comes down to how a team channels it. At this point, three-time Las Vegas Aces champion and Game 5 Golden State Valkyries catalyst Kiah Stokes doesn’t see it as an X’s and O’s game. There’s too much knowledge for that. 

“You're seeing the same team over and over and over again,” Stokes said. “It just gets to the point where at this time it's, ‘Who wants it more?’” 

This is a game that could hinge on emotions. There’s a pure will to closing out a team on the road and a required hunger for the home squad to keep its season alive. The mental edge, which shifted over the course of the series, will be key. 

The Dream trash-talked through the first three, taking back-to-back wins for a fragile 2-1 series lead. The Valkyries began returning some of the fire, rattling off their own two-fer and a commanding 3-2 series lead. 

Angel Reese, the Dream’s motor in both play and trash talk, said after going up 2-1 they were tracking how well the team was getting under the Valkyries’ skin. She said Wednesday she isn’t thinking about whether the trash talk ratcheted up over the last few games. 

“I do what I do,” she said. 

The Dream still have the same mindset they had a week ago when they returned to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4, she said. It simply needs to be emphasized and utilized in a must-win situation. Because this is where she always lives. 

“I don’t think that headspace has ever changed in my life,” Reese said. “This is the mentality and how I approach the game, every game.” 

Reese’s offensive production dropped in the back-to-back losses. She scored 65 points, shooting 22 of 39 (56%) from the floor in the first three games compared to 15 points on 4 for 20 (20%) in the next two. Her 3-pointers are a barometer of the Dream’s success (they’re 15-0 when she makes one), a stat she wants to maximize. She missed one in Game 4, and had an open look early but for the first time in the playoffs did not attempt one in Game 5. 

Atlanta turned the ball over 35 times in Games 4 and 5, nearly identical to the 36 in the first three games. The Dream’s 62 and 55 points, respectively, were season lows, and they have shot at least 34% from the floor only once this series, bursting out for a 49.3% showing in the 97-71 win in Game 4 at State Farm Arena. 

The Valkyries’ bounceback came with two full days between games. Coach Natalie Nakase used a first-time starting lineup and shortened the rotation on a team that led the league by a wide margin in bench points. The Dream also had two full days to watch film and adjust, although that included a travel day Tuesday. 

“You're always locked in when it comes to the Finals,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. “But when the other team can close out a series and you're down to that last one, I think there's even another level that everybody can get to that they didn't even know they could.” 

The Dream are the more inexperienced team, led by Bonner and two-time champion point guard Jordin Canada. Reese reiterated a few times on Wednesday that it’s her and many of her teammates’ first Finals.

The Valkyries can lean on more. Kayla Thornton won with New York when the 2024 Finals went to a deciding Game 5. Cecilia Zandalasini sat on the other side with the Minnesota Lynx. Stokes has played a fair share of closeout games, nearly all with Nakase when the Valkyries head coach was an assistant in Las Vegas. 

No matter the length of the series, there are aspects that remain the same. 

“This is going to be our toughest battle, both physically and mentally,” Nakase said Wednesday. “We're facing a desperate team, and any team that's desperate, they're going to scrap for rebounds, they're going to hit on screens, they're going to dive on loose balls, and we have to match that. If not, we have to be better.” 

The Valkyries learned last time they were in town how to communicate better amid a loud 17,000-plus State Farm Arena crowd that features musical performances during timeouts. Game 6 will be played there after it was moved out of prime time to accommodate the venue change. Atlanta’s usual home arena is 3,500-seat Gateway Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET. 

Dream ownership wrote an open letter to fans on Tuesday night that a midday Thursday tip was “not what we would have chosen and not what we fought for.” The players have stayed out of discussing the controversy, instead redirecting comments toward the crowd they expect at what will be their full-time home next year. 

“This is the moment that we need to come and maximize,” Reese said. “We’re not just here just to mess around. We’re here to play Atlanta Dream basketball [and] get back to our identity. We’ve watched a lot of positive things and a lot of feel-goods, which is what we need coming back home.”