SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Atlanta Dream could not find the basket Monday night in San Francisco, and a 64-55 loss to the Golden State Valkyries in Game 5 has pushed them to the edge in the WNBA Finals.
Golden State now leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. One more Valkyries win ends Atlanta’s season.
Neither offense did much in a grinding, low-scoring game. Atlanta made only 29 percent of its shots and 23 percent of its three-point tries. Rhyne Howard carried the load with 20 points, and Jordin Canada was the only other Dream player in double figures with 12.
The Dream walked into a tough building. Golden State had gone 17-5 at home, while Atlanta was 15-7 on the road. Two things hung over Atlanta coming in: Angel Reese managed just eight points on 2-of-12 shooting in Saturday’s loss, and Allisha Gray has been fighting a hand injury from the first round, shooting just under 29 percent in the Finals.
Game 6 comes back to Atlanta on Thursday at State Farm Arena, with tip-off moved up to 12:30 p.m. The league shifted the start from 8 p.m. so the Hawks can host the Cleveland Cavaliers that night at 8 p.m.
The Dream play their regular season at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, which seats 3,500 and is the smallest arena in the WNBA. They have played every home playoff game at State Farm Arena, which seats 17,044, and Games 3 and 4 there drew sellout crowds.
Tickets for Game 6 are on sale through the Atlanta Dream. A Dream win would force a deciding Game 7, while a loss would hand Golden State the title on Atlanta’s home floor.
