Date, Time, and Location: Thursday, October 29th, 9:30am, State Farm Arena (Atlanta)
Broadcast Information: USA/E!/Syfy (full national), Peacock (streaming)
The Golden State Valkyries try to win the WNBA championship on Thursday when they visit the Atlanta Dream for the final time in the series. The hosts will be trying to tie the series and send it back to San Francisco for a deciding game on Saturday. The exact logistics of this game were very much up in the air until just before the last game as this meeting will be in same the arena as Games 3 and 4, but was moved to the early afternoon local time in order to be able to use the facility. As a result, the broadcast simulcast channels alongside USA are E! and Syfy. Direct streaming will continue to be on Peacock.
The Valkyries
It was a big win for the Valkyries on Monday as they were able to play the game in their preferred style and had significant success on defense. The strategy and rotation for this game is likely to be the same until Atlanta does something to force a change. Golden State got productive minutes from everyone in the main rotation as they all seem to be locked in when it comes to their responsibilities right now.
The Opposition
Atlanta is likely going to try some new wrinkle to change the momentum of this series. Te-Hina Paopao, who saw some time in the first half in the last of the game, is listed as questionable on their initial injury report, which could impact any chances of playing her for a more extended timeframe. While she could give them another offensive option, playing her did change the defense and how the Valkyries saw their advantages in various matchups. The Dream have continued to give Madina Okot a first half cameo to little effect. She bothered Golden State in all three matchups in the regular season even though it did not have as much of an effect on the scorelines of those games. Playing her more would probably be the only move that would force the Valkyries to think about changing their rotation immediately in response. Absent any player changes, the Dream are likely to be even more aggressive on defense to try to generate the turnovers that helped fuel both of their wins, while continuing to attack on offense as well.
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