Atlanta’s dream of a WNBA title might be coming soon. A guardian Angel leads the way

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If you believe the polls, there is talk of a blue wave in the midterm elections next month. There was certainly a sky-blue wave in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

More than 17,000 Atlanta fans roared the Dream to a thumping 26-point victory and a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals series against the Golden State Valkyries. There was barely any other color visible in a sold-out crowd at the State Farm Arena, and the noise was deafening from start to finish.

Having watched their team level the series with a dominant performance on the road, the Atlanta crowd was fired up to welcome the Dream back to an arena that has quickly become their home, and it is now the only place in town that can accommodate such a rapidly expanding franchise.

For a moment, it seemed as though this might instead have all played out 10 miles to the south of the city, in a claustrophobic arena outside Atlanta that the Dream have rapidly outgrown. Given what the scene at State Farm Arena on Wednesday was like, that would have been a travesty.

They’re only halfway to the title, but this performance felt like a celebration befitting the size of the venue.

Since 2021, Atlanta’s women have been playing out of a venue that can hold just 3,500 fans. Once they made the playoffs this season, they switched to State Farm, where much bigger crowds have cheered them to two straight sweeps on their way to the Finals. By the time they reached their first Finals since 2013, they’d won 10 straight games.

During that run, the team announced that State Farm would become their permanent residency from 2027, but in the meantime, nobody knew where they would play the Finals. A concert was booked for the night of Game 3 and the city’s NBA team, the Hawks, were scheduled to play their home season opener on the night of Game 4.

Atlanta’s fans were incensed, with many unfairly criticizing the Hawks – a franchise which hasn’t won the NBA Finals since 1961 and never since moving to Atlanta, it was noted with some derision. But thankfully a solution was found; Game 3 was brought forward by 24 hours and Game 4 will tip off at State Farm as a Saturday afternoon game, and Game 6, if it’s required … well, they’ll cross that bridge if they come to it.

On Thursday, the musician Sombr will take the stage at State Farm Arena. On Wednesday, the mood was gleefully electric as Atlanta comprehensively dismantled their opponents to take control of the series.

The whole scene was yet more evidence of a league that is absolutely booming. Prior to tipoff, NBC reported an average audience for 2.1 million viewers for Game 1, a new broadcast record, and the secondary ticket marketplace TickPick said that it was selling tickets for over $200 was also a Finals record.

That’s despite the series missing arguably the game’s biggest stars. Caitlin Clark, the generational talent who propelled professional women’s basketball into the national consciousness in 2024, is nowhere near it. Neither is the league’s hottest player, the record five-time MVP A’Ja Wilson, whose defending champion Las Vegas were swept in the semifinals by Golden State.

Those Aces were trumped in the semifinals by the dominant Valkyries, who’ve had the audacity to reach the Finals in only their second season. The Dream, meanwhile, are trying to bring some sporting pride to a city that so often has been also-rans or nowhere-nears. The league will crown a new champion at the end of the series.

Before this season, the Dream had played in three WNBA Finals and lost every single game. But this year is different, thanks in large part to the energetic and undeniably unapologetic Angel Reese.

Once cast by some observers as the villain to Clark’s heroine, Reese has fought her way to the front of the pack and is now hoping to bask in the game’s brightest spotlight alone. In Game 2, she made history as the youngest player in WNBA history to record at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a postseason game. Only two other players, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, had ever done it in a Finals game.

On Wednesday, she led the way again with another double -double.

Since moving to Atlanta five months ago, Reese has established herself as the league’s defensive player of the year, but she is dangerous everywhere. In Game 3, the pink flashes on her sneakers were constantly visible as she constantly disrupted the Valkyries, leading all scorers with 21 points and 12 rebounds, often emoting in celebration with exuberant defiance.

But this was a balanced, team performance from Atlanta; Naz Hillman, wearing 00 on her shirt, poured in a series of 3-point shots before moving in to inflict further damage from point-blank range, marksmanship that James Bond’s 007 would have been proud of.

Isobel Borlase and Rhyne Howard kept the fans on their feet with huge blocks late in the third quarter to keep the Valkyries at arm’s length, literally. It was an historic night for Howard, who became the first player in Finals history to make five of more steals in consecutive games.

After a 14-point road win in Game 2, a 97-71 victory was emphatic and Atlanta have built up the kind of momentum that might just be unstoppable.

The Atlanta Dream might now be the hottest ticket in town and State Farm Arena would be fools not to host them in Game 6. But they’ve become such a nightmare for their opponents; this series one might be over in five.

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如果民调可信，那么下个月的中期选举中可能会出现一波蓝色浪潮。周三晚上在亚特兰大，一股蓝色浪潮确实席卷而来。

超过17000名亚特兰大球迷的呐喊助威，帮助梦想队以26分的巨大优势战胜金州女武神队，在WNBA总决赛中以2-1领先。州立农场球馆座无虚席，观众席上几乎看不到其他颜色，从始至终，呐喊声震耳欲聋。

看到自己的球队在客场以压倒性的优势扳平了系列赛，亚特兰大的球迷们热情高涨，欢迎梦想队回到这座迅速成为他们主场的球馆，而现在，这里也是这座城市唯一能够容纳这样一支快速扩张的球队的地方。

那一刻，我甚至觉得这一切或许会发生在亚特兰大以南十英里处，一座狭小拥挤的体育馆里，梦想队早已无法容纳他们了。考虑到周三州立农场球馆的景象，那将是一场彻头彻尾的悲剧。

他们距离冠军只差一半的路要走，但这场演出感觉就像一场与场地规模相称的庆祝活动。

自2021年以来，亚特兰大女篮一直在一个只能容纳3500名球迷的场馆比赛。本赛季打进季后赛后，她们搬到了州立农场体育馆，在那里，更多的球迷为她们欢呼，助她们一路横扫对手，杀入总决赛。在她们自2013年以来首次晋级总决赛时，她们已经取得了10连胜。

在那段时间里，球队宣布州立农场保险公司将从2027年起成为他们的永久赞助商，但与此同时，没有人知道他们将在哪里进行总决赛。第三场比赛当晚预定了一场演唱会，而该市的NBA球队老鹰队则计划在第四场比赛当晚进行他们的主场赛季揭幕战。

亚特兰大的球迷们怒不可遏，许多人对老鹰队进行了不公平的批评——这支球队自1961年以来就没赢过NBA总冠军，自从搬到亚特兰大后更是从未染指过总冠军，这一点甚至遭到了一些嘲讽。但好在最终找到了解决方案：第三场比赛提前24小时进行，第四场比赛将于周六下午在州立农场球场开打，至于第六场比赛，如果需要的话……嗯，到时候再说吧。

周四，音乐人Sombr将在州立农场球馆登台演出。周三，亚特兰大队以压倒性优势击败对手，掌控了系列赛的主动权，现场气氛异常热烈。

整个场面再次印证了联盟的蓬勃发展。比赛开始前，NBC报道称第一场比赛的平均收视人数为210万，创下新的电视转播收视纪录；而二级票务平台TickPick也表示，其售出的门票价格超过200美元，同样刷新了总决赛的纪录。

尽管本届系列赛缺少了可以说是联盟中最耀眼的几位球星，但依然精彩纷呈。凯特琳·克拉克，这位曾让女子职业篮球在2024年进入全国视野的天才球员，如今却远未入选。同样缺席的还有联盟最炙手可热的球员，五届MVP得主阿贾·威尔逊，她所在的卫冕冠军拉斯维加斯王牌队在半决赛中被金州勇士队横扫出局。

王牌队在半决赛中被实力强劲的女武神队击败，后者仅用了两个赛季就闯入了总决赛。与此同时，梦想队正努力为这座长期以来默默无闻的城市带来一些体育荣耀。联赛将在系列赛结束后决出新的冠军。

在本赛季之前，梦想队曾三次打进WNBA总决赛，但全部失利。不过今年情况不同了，这很大程度上要归功于充满活力、毫不妥协的安吉尔·里斯。

瑞茜曾被一些观察家视为克拉克的反派，如今她已奋力拼搏，跻身顶尖行列，并希望独自享受这项运动最耀眼的聚光灯。在第二场比赛中，她创造了历史，成为WNBA历史上最年轻的季后赛单场至少拿下30分15篮板的球员。此前，只有布里安娜·斯图尔特和琼奎尔·琼斯两位球员曾在总决赛中做到这一点。

周三，她再次以两双的成绩领跑全场。

自从五个月前搬到亚特兰大以来，瑞茜已经稳坐联盟年度最佳防守球员的宝座，但她在任何位置都极具威胁。在第三场比赛中，她球鞋上的粉色闪光格外引人注目，她不断地干扰着瓦尔基里队的进攻，最终以21分12篮板的成绩领衔全场得分，并在庆祝时展现出一种桀骜不驯的姿态。

但亚特兰大队展现出了均衡的团队精神；身穿 00 号球衣的纳兹·希尔曼连续投进三分球，然后又近距离投篮得分，这种神准的投篮技巧，连詹姆斯·邦德的 007 都会引以为傲。

伊莎贝尔·博拉斯和莱恩·霍华德在第三节末段的几次关键盖帽让球迷们激动不已，也让瓦尔基里队始终无法拉开比分差距。对于霍华德来说，这是一个历史性的夜晚，他成为总决赛历史上首位连续两场比赛完成五次或以上抢断的球员。

在第二场比赛中以 14 分的优势客场取胜后，亚特兰大又以 97-71 大胜，取得了一场酣畅淋漓的胜利，并建立起了势不可挡的势头。

亚特兰大梦想队现在可能是城里最热门的球队，如果州立农场球馆不在第六场比赛中安排他们，那就太愚蠢了。但他们已经成为对手的噩梦；这个系列赛可能五场就结束了。