Date, Time, and Location: Monday, October 26th, 5:00pm, Chase Center
Broadcast Information: USA/CNBC (full national), Peacock (streaming)
The Golden State Valkyries host the Atlanta Dream in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday. Both teams know that this is a critical game with the winner moving within a game of the championship. The Valkyries took back momentum in the series with the win on Saturday after two victories for the Dream where they were successful on both ends of the floor. The Golden State win also ensured that there will be a Game 6 as well. The national broadcast will be on USA and CNBC while Peacock continues to carry the streaming broadcast.
The Valkyries
There were a lot of changes for the Valkyries to try to shift the energy of the series and the question will be which of them are carried over to the next game. The change to the starting lineup changed the personality of the group on the floor and looks likely to be continued. Kaila Charles being out there made the lineup even more defensively focused as the work on that end secured the win with turnover forced being a big storyline. Tiffany Hayes struggled in the first half with scoring, but she made some big baskets in the second half.
Smallball lineups do make sense in this matchup, but the key will be managing minutes for Kiah Stokes and adjusting to whatever lineups Atlanta is running. Veronica Burton and Gabby Williams also played much heavier minutes and that should be expected to continue as the series progresses. While Golden State did not have a big scoring output, they were able to take care of the ball better in this game and prevent the easier opportunities that the Dream had been getting in previous games.
The Opposition
Atlanta is coming off of the loss, but they are not likely to be feeling ready to make drastic changes yet having success overall with their strategies so far this series. They did briefly try a taller lineup in the first half which could be of interest if the Valkyries stick with smallball lineups for any backup center minutes, but did not go to it again, mainly sticking with the same seven players.
Leave a Reply