Valkyries vs. Dream: Lineup Shakeup Pays Off as Golden State Wins WNBA Finals Game 4 to Even Series 2-2

Down 2-1 in the WNBA Finals and coming off a 26-point beatdown, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase did what coaches in trouble are supposed to do and rarely actually do. She changed the starting lineup, and her team changed the series.

Gabby Williams scored 17 points, Kiah Stokes ruled the paint with 16 rebounds and three blocks, and the Golden State Valkyries held off the Atlanta Dream 67-62 in Game 4 on Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena. The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 and heads back to San Francisco, with the Valkyries' first win since Game 1 built on the same physical defense that Atlanta had been pushing them out of for a week.

New Starters, Same Slow Start, Very Different Result

Nakase inserted Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles into the first five, sending Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini to the bench. Golden State still came out sluggish in the early afternoon tip, falling behind 7-2. Then the two players who had just lost their starting spots checked in and flipped the game. Thornton and Zandalasini helped fuel a 12-0 run that turned that deficit into a 14-7 lead, and per the Associated Press, it was Golden State's first lead since the third quarter of Game 2.

The second quarter was the Valkyries' masterpiece. Angel Reese's basket, her only field goal of the first half, pulled Atlanta within 24-20. Golden State answered by closing the half on an 18-6 run, including nine straight points, and went into the locker room up 42-26. Per the AP, that was the largest halftime deficit the Dream had faced all playoffs. Golden State scored 26 points in that quarter, more than it managed in the entire second half.

Atlanta Comes Charging Back

The Dream were not about to go quietly in front of a sellout crowd of 17,099. Atlanta won the third quarter 19-12 to cut it to 54-45, and Isobel Borlase's running layup with 4:49 left made it 61-55. The building was on its feet.

Veronica Burton sat it right back down. Off a Williams assist, she stepped back and drilled a 24-foot 3-pointer with 4:23 left to push the lead to 64-55. The Dream answered with seven of the next nine points anyway. Rhyne Howard hit two free throws, Reese scored on a drive at 1:36, and after Burton's 11-footer at 34.6 seconds, Howard converted a three-point play with 28.7 seconds left to make it 66-62. Burton split a pair at the line one second later, and the Dream came up empty on their last chance.

One Step-Back, Nine Points of Air

Golden State's offense was ugly for most of the second half. Shooting 26 of 72 for the game is nobody's idea of a highlight reel, and Atlanta had all the momentum when Borlase made it a six-point game. Burton's step-back 3 restored a nine-point cushion at the exact moment the building started believing, and the Dream never got closer than four. She finished by scoring Golden State's final six points.

The Valkyries' Defense Does the Talking

Williams needed 21 shots to get her 17 and missed all six of her 3s, but she added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Burton scored 13 on 4-of-17 shooting with five assists, three steals and two blocks. Hayes, newly promoted, scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds, with all of her points coming in the second half, according to the AP.

"We just had to have more fight, more grit, and get back to us," Hayes said in a TV interview after the game. "We still made a few mistakes but at the end of the day we played hard and we came out with the win."

The real star was the defense, and the face of it was Stokes. She scored only four points, but she grabbed eight offensive rebounds on her way to 16 and blocked three shots. Per the AP, that gives her 14 blocks in the four games, a WNBA Finals record that surpassed the old mark of 12 shared by Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles. Zandalasini, meanwhile, scored 10 off the bench and posted a team-best plus-20.

On the other side, Reese's afternoon was a grind. She entered averaging 25.5 points and 14 rebounds in Atlanta's two wins, per the AP, and had posted a double-double in each of the first three games. On Saturday she went 2 of 12 from the field for eight points, missing a few layups in the fourth quarter, with nine rebounds and six turnovers. Howard did what she could, scoring 19 points with eight rebounds, and Jordin Canada and Borlase each added 10.

How the Grind Won

• 18 to 9: Atlanta's turnovers compared with Golden State's. The Valkyries turned the Dream's miscues into 16 points.
• 18 of 54: Atlanta's shooting from the field, 33 percent, including 4 of 23 from 3.
• 38-28: Golden State's edge in points in the paint.
• 13: Golden State's offensive rebounds, with Stokes grabbing eight of them.
• +20: Zandalasini's plus-minus in 18 minutes off the bench.

Best-of-Three, Two at Home

The series is tied 2-2 and is now a best-of-three, with two of the final three games set for Chase Center. Game 5 is Monday in San Francisco. Golden State has its swagger back, and more importantly, Nakase has found a rotation that works: the starters set the tone defensively, and Thornton and Zandalasini bring a second punch off the bench.

For Atlanta, the problem is simple and scary. The Dream's offense looked broken without easy transition points, and they had leaned on turnovers to fuel their two blowout wins. Take those away, and the Dream had to grind in the half court against a defense that blocks shots and crashes the glass. They shot just 4 of 23 from deep and still lost by only five, so there is reason for optimism. There is also reason to worry about Reese's finishing at the rim.

Season Arc, Rewritten

Somewhere between Game 3 and Game 4, the Valkyries got their edge back. Their whole identity is making opponents miserable, and Atlanta looked miserable for most of Saturday afternoon. Nakase shuffled the deck like a showrunner who read the bad reviews after episode three and rewrote the season arc. The cliffhanger now moves to San Francisco, and the Valkyries have the home crowd for the next one.

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