The Atlanta Dream had no intention of letting a matinee become their curtain call.

Facing elimination at a lunchtime tipoff, the Dream overwhelmed the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 on Thursday afternoon to force a decisive seventh game in the WNBA finals, rediscovering their offensive touch just as their championship hopes were threatening to slip away.

Atlanta buried six three-pointers and shot 73.3% from the floor in a blistering opening quarter at State Farm Arena, built a lead that ballooned to 25 points before half-time and held on to send a series that had swung sharply towards Golden State back to San Francisco for Saturday night’s winner-take-all finale. Both teams are seeking their first championship.

Allisha Gray scored a team-high 23 points including five threes, Rhyne Howard added 21 while Angel Reese notched her fourth double-double of the series with 15 points and 14 rebounds to go with six assists. Gabby Williams finished with a game-high 26 points for the Valkyries after being held to four in the first half. Tiffany Hayes added 15, but Golden State shot just 31.4% from the field and 25.9% from three-point range.

“Championship mentality,” Reese said. “We just wanted to get this one, one at a time, and being able to go out and take our chances and go on the road and win one. We needed the opportunity. That’s all we needed, and we maximized it today. I’m just really proud of this group. The job is not done, and I’m looking forward to it. One more. Job’s not done.”

The Dream had managed only 62 and 55 points in back-to-back defeats that erased their 2-1 series lead. On Thursday, they scored 32 in the first quarter alone, making 11 of their first 15 shots and moving the ball with a fluidity Golden State had largely disrupted over the previous two contests.

The shell-shocked Valkyries found their footing and got as close as eight 77-69 in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Dream were never seriously threatened.

The performance came amid the controversy surrounding a 12.30pm tipoff, a scheduling compromise that placed the biggest home game of Atlanta’s season in the middle of a work day. The Dream nevertheless announced a sellout crowd of 17,099 on Wednesday.

For Golden State, the start was equivalent to 9.30am on their normal California clock, although Nakase dismissed concerns beforehand.

“We prepared for this,” she said. “We knew when they announced it. We’re good.”

The WNBA adopted a best-of-seven finals last year, only for the series to end in a four-game sweep. This time, the extended format has delivered the ultimate decider.

Six games have left nothing to separate the Dream and Valkyries. On Halloween night, the first Game 7 in WNBA history will decide it all.

This is a developing story.