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The Atlanta Dream tied the WNBA Finals at one game each Monday night, beating the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 in Game 2 at Chase Center. Gabby Williams, Golden State’s leading scorer, shot 3 of 15 from the field.
With the series moving to Atlanta, the talk around the Valkyries has turned to their offense. ESPN analyst Lawrencia Moten is the latest to weigh in. On ESPN’s “The Wrap Up,” she focused on how much of Golden State’s scoring runs through Williams.
“Atlanta deserves a lot of credit for making Gabby Williams work harder offensively, but I also feel like this exposes a bigger concern for Golden State,” Moten said.
She pointed back to Saturday’s Game 1, a four-point Valkyries win: “In Game 1, Gabby scored 26 of Golden State’s 68 points. That’s nearly 40% of their entire offense. She was actually their only player in double figures.”
“So yes, she’s capable of taking over a game. And we’ve seen that throughout the postseason,” Moten said of Williams, adding that “Atlanta is going to make her earn everything.”
Williams finished Monday with 14 points. She went 1 of 6 from 3-point range and 7 of 7 at the free-throw line. Tiffany Hayes scored 14 off the bench and Veronica Burton added 11.
But Golden State shot 21 of 61 as a team and was outscored 21-9 in the third quarter. Through two games, Cecilia Zandalasini is 4 of 18 from the field, and Kayla Thornton has taken five shots.
The Valkyries had more balance against the Dream earlier in the year. According to The San Francisco Standard, Golden State won all three regular-season meetings with Atlanta. It shot at least 44% from the field in each game, with at least three players scoring efficiently.
“Actually, I thought her looks were the same as usual. She just missed … I wish I could say she’s going to shoot 100 percent every night. That just isn’t the case,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said of Williams after the game.
Burton saw the team’s night the same way: “I mean, at the end of the day, I do think we got a lot of good looks that we didn’t finish, and that happens, and that’s basketball.”
Nakase and the Valkyries showed little interest in overhauling their game plan for Game 3, NBC Sports Bay Area reported, even though Monday’s defeat was their first at home and their first in regulation this postseason.
Atlanta had 14 steals and outscored Golden State 19-0 in fast-break points. Angel Reese led the Dream with 30 points and 16 rebounds.
“For us, we do rely on our defense. Now, can we be a little bit more creative creating turnovers? That’s something we can definitely game plan for,” Nakase said.
“They made more energy plays, and that’s what we hang our hats on … So it can’t happen, especially not in the Finals,” Burton said.
Game 3 is Wednesday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. NBC Sports Bay Area reported that Nakase committed to watching film beforehand to figure out how to keep the Dream from shooting 35 free throws, as they did on Monday.