Valkyries vs. Dream: Gabby Williams Drops 23 as Golden State's 15 Threes End Atlanta's Four-Game Win Streak

Two teams walked into Chase Center on Wednesday night, and only one of them brought a jumper. Atlanta could get to the rim whenever it pleased. Atlanta could also grab offensive rebounds, run in transition and generally look like the more physical team. None of that survives a math problem this large.

The Golden State Valkyries hit 15 3-pointers, Gabby Williams scored 23 and the Dream's four-game winning streak ended in a 77-66 loss that was never as close as the final score suggests. Atlanta made four 3s. That's a 33-point gap from behind the arc, in a game decided by 11.

The Second Quarter Did the Damage

Atlanta looked fine for about five minutes. Allisha Gray's 3 and a layup made it 7-3, and the Dream were up 11-7 before Williams took over the end of the first. She scored seven in the quarter, including a 26-foot pull-up for a 14-11 lead, and Janelle Salaun's back-to-back 3s pushed it to 20-13. Golden State led 22-18 after one.

The second quarter is the one Atlanta will want to burn. The Dream scored nine points and went 2-for-14 from the field, according to the team. Golden State built a 10-0 run around two Williams layups and 3s from Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini, then kept piling on with another Williams 3, one more from Thornton and a Laeticia Amihere reverse layup. The team says Atlanta is just the third opponent to score in single digits in a quarter against the Valkyries while making two or fewer field goals. A 26-22 game was 44-27 at the half.

The third quarter just added insult. Zandalasini hit a 26-footer, Williams hit a 27-foot step-back, and Amihere's 3 at 2:41 made it 61-35, Golden State's biggest lead. Reese, scoreless in the first half, finally got her first basket on a 4-foot hook with 7:12 left in the third. It was 63-40 going to the fourth, and the only real question was whether anyone would stay to watch it.

Step-Backs and a Bad Night for Star Power

Williams was excellent in every way that counts: 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 3-of-5 from deep, five rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers, with a plus-17. She scored seven in each of the first three quarters, so she never had to force anything late. All three of her 3s were step-backs with barely any air space, per the team, which also says this was her fifth 20-point game of the season and the most she has ever had in a single season.

Thornton scored 17 by making five 3s on 10 attempts, and Zandalasini added 14 on 4-of-6 from deep. Veronica Burton did not score much with eight points, but her seven assists and plus-13 were the connective tissue for all of it. Only 12 of Golden State's 27 field goals came inside the arc, and 20 of the 27 were assisted, which is about as tidy as a shooting night gets. Kiah Stokes scored one point and still mattered, with three blocks and five rebounds on a team that blocked seven shots.

Atlanta's brightest light was a rookie. Madina Okot went 7-of-9 for a team-high 16 in just 19 minutes, 11 of those points coming in the fourth. Rhyne Howard added 12.

The rest was grim. Angel Reese had 10 points and 12 rebounds, seven of them offensive, but she missed her first eight shots, finished 3-of-12 and went 4-of-9 at the line. Jordin Canada shot 2-of-10. Allisha Gray scored eight before leaving in the third quarter after a collision with Stokes, and she did not return. Reese, Canada and Gray combined to go 8-of-32.

The Comeback That Never Got Close Enough

Here's where Golden State showed its real trick. Two Reese free throws at the end of the third started it, Okot scored nine of the next 11, and that 13-0 surge made it 63-51 with 6:04 to play. The Valkyries had gone cold, without a point since the 1:14 mark of the third.

Then Zandalasini hit a 25-footer off a Burton feed at 4:28. Thornton hit one at 3:18, Thornton hit another at 1:03, and Zandalasini closed it with a 29-footer at 27.6 seconds. Every time the Dream got the lead down near 10, somebody in black stepped back and pushed it right back up. Twelve of Golden State's 14 fourth-quarter points came from 3-point range, and that is why a 26-point lead could shrink without ever feeling truly threatened.

The Numbers That Explain It

• The arc: Golden State 15-of-32, Atlanta 4-of-18. That's 45-12 in 3-point scoring.
• The inside game: Atlanta won the paint 42-22, the fast-break column 18-6 and offensive rebounds 12-6, and lost by 11.
• The second quarter: Golden State won it 22-9.
• The line: The Dream shot 12-of-22 on free throws, or 55 percent.
• The floor: Atlanta's 66 points were its lowest total of the season.

One Down, One to Go

Golden State moves to 11-7 and 8-3 at home, shaking off consecutive losses to Minnesota and Las Vegas. Chase Center continues to be a lousy place to visit. This also opens a two-game set, because the same two teams meet again Friday night at Chase Center.

Atlanta falls to 12-5 and 6-3 on the road. It's the Dream's first loss since June 11, and it comes after a stretch where they'd topped 100 three times in four games. Scoring 66 after all that is a jarring change of scenery. Friday's rematch gives them about 48 hours to find a jump shot.

This Building Knows the Plot

If a Golden State team beating people from 3-point range at Chase Center sounds familiar, well, the building has some experience with that storyline. Atlanta did nearly everything else right. It won the paint, it won the extra possessions, it won the fourth quarter by 12. But basketball remains a sport where three is greater than two, and on Wednesday, the Valkyries turned that very old piece of arithmetic into a 77-66 lesson.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Additional details from the Associated Press and the Golden State Valkyries.