Valkyries vs. Dream: Gabby Williams Scores 26 and Seals WNBA Finals Game 1 at the Line

Golden State spent most of Saturday afternoon chasing. Atlanta led for 79 percent of the game, the Valkyries were bricking 3s at an alarming rate, and the Dream's defense looked every bit as nasty as advertised. Then Gabby Williams walked to the free throw line, and the whole thing flipped.

Williams scored 26 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:18 left and two more with 4.1 seconds remaining, and the Golden State Valkyries held off the Atlanta Dream 68-64 at Chase Center to grab Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. Golden State leads the best-of-seven series 1-0, and Atlanta, which arrived in San Francisco without a playoff loss, finally has one.

A Game of Runs, Then a Game of Nerves

This one swung harder than a pendulum in a haunted house. Golden State used a 9-0 run to take a 14-11 lead in the first quarter, then watched Atlanta answer with 11 straight points to close the period up 22-14. The Valkyries flipped it again in the second quarter behind Williams, who scored 16 of her 26 in that period, per the Associated Press. A 10-0 burst late in the half turned a 37-32 deficit into a 42-37 lead, and Golden State took a 42-39 edge into the break.

Atlanta owned the third quarter, outscoring Golden State 17-9, and an 8-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters put the Dream up 58-51 with 9:07 to play. At that point, the Valkyries had gone cold, and the Dream were nine minutes from stealing home court.

They never got there. Golden State closed the game on a 17-6 run, and the last few minutes were a test of nerves. Jordin Canada's 13-footer with 4:23 left put Atlanta up 62-59. Williams answered with a running layup at 3:22 to make it 62-61. Rhyne Howard went 2 for 2 at the line with 3:12 left for a 64-61 lead, and those were the last points Atlanta would score.

Three Minutes and Twelve Seconds of Nothing

Williams made two free throws at 2:15 to cut it to 64-63, then two more at 1:18 to give Golden State a 65-64 lead. From there, Atlanta's possessions fell apart one by one. Howard missed a 3 with 1:09 left. Angel Reese came up with a steal moments later, but Naz Hillmon missed from deep. Kiah Stokes made one of two free throws with 23.8 seconds left, and Allisha Gray missed a 3 with nine seconds left. Williams sealed it with two more free throws at 4.1.

Atlanta went the final 3:12 without a point. For a team that had not lost all postseason, that is a brutal way to learn what Finals pressure feels like.

Gabby Williams Carries the Load Alone

Williams was the only Valkyrie in double figures, finishing 8 of 22 from the field, 3 of 11 from deep and 7 of 8 at the line. She scored eight of Golden State's final 11 points. She also had a late scare. Per the AP, she was tended to by an athletic trainer on the bench in the final moments after Canada collided with her knee during a box out.

"We always knew we were going to find a way somehow," Williams told the crowd on the microphone afterward as fans chanted "Gabby! Gabby!"

The rest of the Valkyries did their work on the other end. Stokes scored nine points with seven rebounds and four blocks, and Golden State finished with 10 blocks as a team while crashing the glass for 12 offensive rebounds and a 41-35 edge on the boards. Laeticia Amihere went 2 for 2 for five points off the bench. Kaila Charles added seven points and 10 rebounds off the bench with a plus-13. Tiffany Hayes had a rough shooting afternoon, going 1 of 12, but she chipped in six rebounds and four assists.

For Atlanta, Gray scored 19 points after returning from an injured left ring finger on her shooting hand that had kept her out of the last two games of Atlanta's semifinal sweep of New York, per the AP. She needed 19 shots to get there, though, and went 1 of 8 from 3. Reese had 14 points and 12 rebounds, Howard scored 12 on 3-of-14 shooting, and Canada had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Bricks, Blocks and Free Throws

• 7 of 33: Golden State's 3-point shooting. The Valkyries won anyway.
• 10 to 5: Golden State's edge in blocks.
• 4 of 25: Atlanta was even colder from deep than Golden State.
• 17-6: Golden State's closing run over the final nine-plus minutes.
• 0: Points scored by Atlanta over the final 3:12.

Atlanta Finally Loses One

Golden State takes a 1-0 lead with Game 2 set for Monday night back at Chase Center, where the home crowd answered coach Natalie Nakase's request for a hostile environment. By our count of the playoff results, the Valkyries have now won five straight postseason games, including the 3-0 sweep of Las Vegas. Atlanta's loss was its first of the playoffs after going 5-0 through sweeps of Washington and New York.

The stakes are about as clean as they get. Per the AP, whichever franchise wins this series will be celebrating its first championship, and the opener suggests the title is going to be decided in the mud. The audience is there for it, too. Per the AP, NBC's broadcast of the opener averaged 2.1 million viewers, more than any first game of the Finals had ever drawn.

Inside Out, San Francisco Edition

Both teams spent four quarters shooting like the rim had been swapped for a coffee mug, and Chase Center cycled through the entire Inside Out cast: Fear when Atlanta went up seven in the fourth, Disgust at every clanked 3, Anxiety through the final minute and, finally, Joy when Williams' last free throw dropped. Fitting, for a movie set in San Francisco.

Golden State shot 32.1 percent and won a Finals game. That is either a fluke or a warning, and Atlanta has two days to figure out which.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes and game notes as reported by the Associated Press via WNBA.com.