Valkyries push Dream to the brink, move one win away from WNBA title

Kiah Stokes had 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots as the Golden State Valkyries moved within one win of a championship in their second season, beating the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday night.

Angel Reese finished with seven points, 15 rebounds and five assists — a big difference from her two standout performances in the first two games of the series at Chase Center. Reese shook her head when whistled for the second of her three offensive fouls with 7:43 to play.

Fans screamed and clapped thunder sticks following the final buzzer as Stokes spoke from the floor to chants of “MVP!”

“We appreciate you,” a smiling Stokes said. “We got one more.”

On a night leading scorer Gabby Williams struggled to find her shooting touch, Golden State found that “strength in numbers” mantra coach Natalie Nakase has praised all season long and everybody made an impact. Veronica Burton had 13 points and eight rebounds.

On Saturday, Nakase had changed up her lineup for a 67-62 Game 4 win by inserting Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles into the starting five. She stayed with those two Monday night, and it worked again. Hayes, who played 10 seasons for Atlanta and came out of retirement two years ago, had 12 points — and Nakase has said she wants to win it all for the veteran guard.

Williams began 2 for 11 and missed all four of her three 3-point tries, but she converted a three-point play with 9:08 remaining put the Valkyries ahead 49-42 and finished with nine points on 3-for-14 shooting and six rebounds.

Atlanta will now try to stave off elimination at home Thursday in Game 6 and force a deciding Game 7 back here at Chase Center on Saturday. The Dream hurt themselves with 17 turnovers that led to 21 points for Golden State.

Stokes hit a key 3-pointer with 2:46 to go in the third quarter and another with 7:21 left in the game, which ignited chants of “Ki-ah! Ki-ah!” from the crazed, rally-towel waving “Ballhalla” home crowd at Chase Center.

Stokes has recorded three or more blocks in six straight games, tying her with Lisa Leslie in 2003 for the longest such streak in a single WNBA postseason.

The Valkyries used a dominant second half after they led 25-22 at the break, the lowest scoring first half combined score in WNBA Finals history.

Rhyne Howard’s three-point play with 4:59 left in the third pulled Atlanta within 34-31, but after that it was Stokes, Burton and the Valkyries coming up with all the crucial plays on both ends.

Golden State owner Joe Lacob promised a championship within five years in a bold declaration when the expansion franchise was granted to the Bay Area three years ago, yet this season has exceeded even what he could have envisioned.

Neither team could find a flow from 3-point range in the first half as the teams combined to shoot 5 for 29 from deep — 3 of 16 by Golden State and 2 for 13 by Atlanta.

Earlier Monday, the league announced Game 6 would be played at 17,000-seat State Farm Arena in Atlanta starting at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday — a time when many fans on both coasts will be working.

“I’d like to see it be a national holiday for all WNBA championship games so whatever somebody can do,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “I hope everybody gets to see it somehow and I know that for some people it’s not realistic, they have jobs and won’t be able to make it. So I’m disappointed for that but I’m really hopeful that as many people can see the game as possible.”

基亚·斯托克斯得到 13 分、8 个篮板和 3 次盖帽，帮助金州女武神队在第二个赛季距离总冠军仅差一场胜利，她们在周一晚上的 WNBA 总决赛第五场比赛中以 64-55 击败了亚特兰大梦想队。

安吉尔·里斯最终得到7分、15个篮板和5次助攻——与她在系列赛前两场在Chase Center的出色表现相比，可谓天壤之别。比赛还剩7分43秒时，里斯因三次进攻犯规中的第二次被吹罚，她摇了摇头。

终场哨响后，斯托克斯在场上发表讲话，球迷们高喊着“MVP！”，球迷们则尖叫着挥舞着加油棒。

“我们很感谢你，”斯托克斯笑着说。“我们又抓到一个。”

在球队头号得分手加比·威廉姆斯手感冰凉的夜晚，金州勇士队展现了主教练娜塔莉·中濑本赛季一直强调的“人多力量大”的理念，全队上下都发挥了作用。维罗妮卡·伯顿拿下13分8篮板。

周六，中濑在第四场比赛中调整了阵容，将蒂芙尼·海耶斯和凯拉·查尔斯放入首发五人组，最终以67-62险胜。周一晚上，她继续沿用这两名球员，并且再次取得了成功。海耶斯曾在亚特兰大效力10个赛季，两年前复出，本场比赛她得到12分——中濑表示，她想为这位老将后卫赢得总冠军。

威廉姆斯开局 11 投 2 中，三分球 3 投 4 中，但比赛还剩 9 分 08 秒时，她打成一次“打三分”，帮助女武神队以 49-42 领先。她最终 14 投 3 中，得到 9 分，并抢下 6 个篮板。

亚特兰大梦想队将在周四主场迎战勇士队的第六场比赛，力争避免被淘汰，并将系列赛拖入周六在老特拉福德球馆举行的第七场决胜局。梦想队全场出现17次失误，让金州勇士队利用这些失误得到21分，最终遗憾落败。

斯托克斯在第三节还剩 2 分 46 秒时投进关键三分球，并在比赛还剩 7 分 21 秒时再次投进三分球，这点燃了 Chase Center 疯狂的“Ballhalla”主场球迷挥舞着助威毛巾，高喊着“Ki-ah！Ki-ah！”的口号。

斯托克斯连续六场比赛至少送出三次盖帽，追平了丽莎·莱斯利在 2003 年创下的 WNBA 季后赛单赛季最长连续盖帽纪录。

瓦尔基里队在上半场以 25-22 领先，下半场则凭借统治级的表现赢得了比赛。上半场双方总得分是 WNBA 总决赛历史上最低的。

第三节还剩 4 分 59 秒时，莱恩·霍华德的三分球将亚特兰大的比分追至 34-31，但此后，斯托克斯、伯顿和瓦尔基里队在攻防两端都打出了所有关键球。

三年前，当金州勇士队获得扩充球队资格时，老板乔·拉科布曾大胆承诺五年内夺得总冠军，然而本赛季的成绩甚至超出了他的预期。

上半场两队三分球手感冰凉，合计29投仅5中——金州勇士16投3中，亚特兰大老鹰13投2中。

周一早些时候，联盟宣布第六场比赛将于周四下午 12:30（美国东部时间）在亚特兰大可容纳 17,000 人的州立农场球馆举行——届时东西海岸的许多球迷都将上班。

“我希望WNBA总决赛能成为全国假日，尽一切努力促成此事，”梦想队主教练卡尔·斯梅斯科说道。“我希望每个人都能以某种方式观看比赛，我知道这对有些人来说不现实，他们有工作，无法到场。所以我对此感到失望，但我真心希望尽可能多的人能够看到这场比赛。”