The Valkyries left their defense in the first quarter, and they know it

The first quarter

The first quarter Thursday was a disaster for the Golden State Valkyries, and the numbers explain why. Atlanta made 73.3 percent of its shots in the period and raced to a 32-15 lead.

Those 32 points were the most by either team in a quarter in this series, and they came against a team that had just held the Dream to 55 points in a Game 5 win.

The mechanism was not complicated. Atlanta moved the ball better than it had in Games 1, 4 and 5, and the open shots it had been missing went in.

For a defense-first team, that is the worst possible opening: the identity is the defense, and the defense was the thing not showing up.

The Valkyries spent Wednesday talking about matching Atlanta's desperation, and Thursday they watched the Dream play with it instead. Knowing what is coming and meeting it are different skills.

Nakase put it on herself

Natalie Nakase was baffled by the start, and she said so in the plainest terms available to a coach. "I put that on me of like, what did I not say, what did I not get to my team of the sense of urgency that we knew they were going to play?" she said.

She added that she needed clarity and information, which is a coach describing a problem she intends to diagnose rather than a team she intends to criticize.

Her point was not that the Dream played badly. It was that the Valkyries knew what was coming and did not meet it.

That is a specific kind of failure, and it is the kind a coach can fix between games.

Nakase's answer is the one that matters for Saturday. A coach who blames the schedule or the start time is out of moves; a coach who asks what she failed to say has one more.

Burton's honest read

Veronica Burton was just as direct. "I'm sitting here and the body language is bad," she said after Golden State fell 80-69, tying the series at three games apiece.

She did not stop there: "But at the end of the day, we feel good. Yes, we lost. Yes, it was a bad game for us." And later: She also said it cannot happen "right out of the gate" and that "There needs to be a sense of urgency. It's the WNBA Finals."

That combination, honesty about the start and belief about the response, is what a team sounds like when it thinks the series is still there to be taken.

The Valkyries have evidence for the belief. They trimmed a 25-point Atlanta lead to eight in the fourth quarter, and the rest of the game was close.

Atlanta's 44 percent shooting is the number that should worry Golden State most. The Dream have been a below-40 percent team in this series, and Thursday was the second time they cleared it.

The parts that did travel

Golden State won the rebounding battle 36-35 and turned the ball over 10 times to Atlanta's 15. Those are the statistics Burton meant when she said there was a lot to take away from the second, third and fourth quarters.

Gabby Williams finished with 26 points and Tiffany Hayes added 15, which is production the Valkyries will need again in Game 7.

Atlanta's side was led by Allisha Gray with 23 points and Rhyne Howard with 21. Angel Reese added 15 points and 14 rebounds on a difficult shooting night.

The Dream shot 44 percent from the field, only the second time in the series they have finished above 40 percent.

The rebounding and turnover numbers are the reason the Valkyries can argue this was a bad quarter rather than a bad team. They also explain why the fourth quarter was close.

The first Game 7, and the history behind it

Saturday's game in San Francisco is the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history. The finals became a best-of-seven series in 2025, and this is the first time one has gone the distance.

The context is uneven in a way that makes it interesting. The Dream lost the Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and the Valkyries are in only their second season of existence.

Atlanta also has the confidence of a team that just scored 32 points in a quarter in an elimination game. "Our job is not done," Reese said, adding that the Dream could be happy about the win for now and still have more work to do.

Thursday's matinee drew a sellout of 17,099 at State Farm Arena despite a much-criticized 12:30 p.m. tipoff, which is a reminder that the series has an audience regardless of the schedule.

Golden State's only lead Thursday was 2-0, which is the kind of detail a team carries into a Game 7 as motivation rather than analysis.

What to watch in Game 7

Three things. First, the first four minutes. The Valkyries have now had one quarter in this series where their defense did not arrive, and a second one would end their season.

Second, Nakase's adjustments. She said she needed clarity and information; the answer will be visible in how Golden State defends the first actions of the game.

Third, Atlanta's shooting. The Dream have shot above 40 percent twice in this series, and the second time was Thursday. Regression is not a plan, and neither is assuming it.

Fourth, the crowd. A Game 7 in San Francisco will be the loudest environment either team has played in this season, and the Valkyries have already shown they can start slowly in a quiet building.