Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream to even the WNBA Finals at 2-2

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Gabby Williams scored 17 points and Golden State played stellar defense to beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 on Saturday and even the WNBA Finals at 2-2.

The best-of-seven series moves back to California on Monday for Game 5.

The Valkyries stymied Atlanta star Angel Reese , holding her to just eight points. She had dominated the previous two games, averaging 25.5 points and 14 rebounds in the Dream victories. Reese struggled in Game 4 , missing 10 of her 12 shots, including a few layups in the fourth quarter, after having double-doubles in each of the first three games.

Tiffany Hayes was moved into the starting lineup Saturday and scored all of her 13 points in the second half as the Valkyries got their first victory since Game 1.

“We just had to have more fight, more grit, and get back to us,” Hayes said in a TV interview after the game. “We still made a few mistakes but at the end of the day we played hard and we came out with the win.”

Atlanta trimmed a 16-point halftime deficit to 61-55 midway through the fourth quarter, bringing fans in the sellout crowd of over 17,000 to their feet. Golden State answered with a 3-pointer by Veronica Burton to briefly silence them.

The Dream then scored seven of the next nine points, including a three-point play by Rhyne Howard with 28 seconds left to get within 66-62.

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Angel Reese’s hairstylist explains the WNBA superstar’s look

Burton then made the first of two free throws a second later and Atlanta couldn’t convert on the other end.

Howard finished with 19 points for Atlanta, which shot just 33.3% overall and 4 for 23 from 3-point range.

Golden State players had said between the 26-point Game 3 loss and Game 4 that they were confident they could win on Saturday and just needed to be more physical and play harder. They showed that grit on both ends of the court.

Defensively, they challenged Atlanta shots led by Kiah Stokes and limited the Dream to few second-chance opportunities. Stokes finished with three blocks and now has a WNBA Finals record of 14 in the four games, surpassing the old record of 12 by Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles.

Offensively, they limited turnovers, which had led to easy points for Atlanta in its two victories. The Valkyries also crashed the offensive boards, rebounding their own misses to give themselves more chances to score. Stokes had eight offensive rebounds of her 16 total.

Coach Natalie Nakase also made a change in the starting lineup, Hayes and Kaila Charles for Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini. While the Valkyries got off to a slow start again in the early afternoon tipoff with the Atlanta Hawks playing their home opener at night, when Thornton and Zandalasini entered the game they paid immediate dividends.

The two helped a key first-quarter run that gave Golden State its first lead since the third quarter of Game 2. Atlanta got within 24-20 on Reese’s basket — her lone one of the first half — but the Valkyries responded with an 18-6 run to close the half.

The 42-26 deficit at the break was the largest that the Dream had faced all playoffs.

Atlanta had dominated the third quarter in the WNBA Finals, outscoring Golden State 60-35 in the first three games. The Valkyries wouldn’t let them do that in Game 4.

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加比·威廉姆斯得到 17 分，金州勇士队凭借出色的防守，在周六以 67-62 击败亚特兰大梦想队，将 WNBA 总决赛比分扳成 2-2 平。

七场四胜制的系列赛将于周一回到加利福尼亚州进行第五场比赛。

瓦尔基里队成功限制了亚特兰大明星球员安吉尔·里斯的发挥，仅让她得到8分。此前两场比赛，里斯表现出色，场均贡献25.5分和14个篮板，帮助梦想队取得胜利。然而，在前三场比赛中均拿下两双的里斯，在第四场比赛中却状态低迷，12投仅3中，包括第四节的几次上篮。

周六，蒂芙尼·海耶斯被提拔到首发阵容，并在下半场拿下全部 13 分，帮助女武神队取得了自第一场比赛以来的首场胜利。

“我们必须拿出更强的斗志和韧性，重新找回状态，”海耶斯赛后在电视采访中说道。“我们仍然犯了一些错误，但最终我们拼尽全力，赢得了比赛。”

亚特兰大队在上半场落后16分的情况下，于第四节中段将比分追至61-55，现场17000多名球迷沸腾起来。金州勇士队随后由维罗妮卡·伯顿投中三分球，短暂地平息了球迷的欢呼。

随后，梦想队连得7分，其中包括莱恩·霍华德在比赛还剩28秒时打成一次“打三分”，将比分追至66-62。

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安吉尔·里斯的造型师解释了这位WNBA超级巨星的造型。

随后，伯顿在一秒钟后罚中两球中的第一球，而亚特兰大队在另一端未能得分。

霍华德为亚特兰大队拿下 19 分，亚特兰大队整体投篮命中率仅为 33.3%，三分球 23 投 4 中。

金州勇士队的球员们在第三场以26分之差惨败到第四场比赛之间曾表示，他们有信心在周六的比赛中取胜，只需要打得更加强硬，更加努力。他们在攻防两端都展现出了这种拼搏精神。

防守端，她们严密盯防亚特兰大梦想队，尤其是基亚·斯托克斯的投篮，限制了梦想队的二次进攻机会。斯托克斯全场送出3次盖帽，四场比赛累计14次盖帽，打破了布里特妮·格里纳和西尔维娅·福尔斯此前保持的12次盖帽的WNBA总决赛纪录。

进攻端，她们减少了失误，而此前亚特兰大队在两场胜利中都因失误而轻松得分。瓦尔基里队也积极拼抢进攻篮板，抢回自己投篮不中的篮板，从而创造更多得分机会。斯托克斯全场抢下16个篮板，其中8个是进攻篮板。

主教练娜塔莉·纳卡塞也对首发阵容做出了调整，用凯拉·桑顿和塞西莉亚·赞达拉西尼替换了海耶斯和凯拉·查尔斯。由于亚特兰大老鹰队在晚上进行主场揭幕战，瓦尔基里队在下午早些时候的比赛中再次开局慢热。但当桑顿和赞达拉西尼上场后，她们立即为球队带来了回报。

两人帮助球队在第一节打出一波关键的攻势，使金州勇士队自第二场比赛第三节以来首次取得领先。凭借里斯上半场唯一的进球，亚特兰大勇士队将比分追至 20-24，但瓦尔基里队随后打出一波 18-6 的攻势，结束了上半场。

中场休息时，梦想队以 42-26 落后，这是他们在整个季后赛中遇到的最大分差。

在WNBA总决赛的前三场比赛中，亚特兰大队在第三节比赛中占据绝对优势，以60-35的总比分击败金州勇士队。但瓦尔基里队在第四场比赛中没有让她们重蹈覆辙。