The Golden State Valkyries held off the Atlanta Dream, 68-64, in Game 1 of the 2026 WNBA Finals on Saturday. The Valkyries shot just 25% from the floor in fourth quarter, but they outscored the Dream 17-8 in the final frame. It's the first-ever WNBA Finals win for the Valkyries, who are playing for the title in just their second season as a franchise.
The Dream dominated in the first quarter, racing out to a 22-14 lead behind 11 points by Angel Reese, who finished the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds. But Golden State had an uncharacteristically explosive second quarter, winning the frame 28-17, and stepped up their top-ranked defense big time in the second half to turn the game into a scrappy battle of wills.
The Valkyries sealed the game with four free throws in the final 30 seconds and a huge rebound by Kaila Charles. Game 2 will take place on Monday night at the Chase Center.
Here are the winners and losers from a tense Game 1:
Winner: Gabby Williams
The Valkyries' star keeps upping her scoring when it matters the most
Gabby Williams has been sensational this postseason. In the regular season, she averaged 14.4 points, 3.3 boards and 2.2 assists per game; in the playoffs, she's upped those stats to 22.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
She started off Game 1 slow, with zero points in the first quarter, but came alive in the second with 16 points, making her only the sixth player in WNBA Finals history to score 15 or more points in a single quarter. Her company in that club? Seimone Augustus, Angel McCoughtry, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Jackie Young.
"She's a great attacker, and then she can also pull up off the dribble for 3. She definitely puts a lot of pressure on your defense," Dream head coach Karl Smesko said after the game, when asked about Williams.
Williams finished the game with 26 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. She looked to injure her leg a bit late in the game after a collision with Jordin Canada on the free-throw line, but remained in the game, and said she was feeling fine in a press conference.
Loser: Rhyne Howard
The former No. 1 pick's tough postseason continued in Game 1
It was a tough night for multiple Dream players, but Rhyne Howard's struggles stand out because this has been a fairly lackluster postseason overall for the 2022 No. 1 pick and four-time All-Star.
For the game, Howard had 12 points, seven boards, four assists, two blocks and a steal. Those aren't terrible numbers, but her team needed much more. She was 3 of 14 (21.4%) from the floor and 2 of 9 (22.2%) from 3-point range. She also had three turnovers, with two coming during crucial minutes of the fourth quarter.
During the regular season, Howard had 17.7 points per game, shooting 40.5% from the field and 35.5% from outside. This postseason, those percentages are both down to around 32%, and they're only that high because of her efficiency in the first round against the Mystics.
In the past four games, Howard is 20 of 75 from the field for 26.6% and 9 of 33 from outside for 27.3%. The Dream were able to survive that poor shooting in the semis because both Jordin Canada and DeWanna Bonner played out of their minds, and because the Liberty frankly had no answers. But Howard is one of the big three for the Dream, and it is a must that she find her range this series.
Winner: Golden State's bench
The Valks had the depth edge in a four-point win
The depth edge was always going to go to Golden State in this match-up, but the difference between the two reserve units was even more stark than expected on Saturday. Only two Dream players played meaningful minutes, with DeWanna Bonner and Isobel Borlase combining for six points, three rebounds and two assists in 13 and 12 minutes, respectively.
Meanwhile, Natalie Nakase had four key contributors from the bench. Kaila Charles had seven points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals, and grabbed the game-sealing rebound in the final seconds. Kaitlyn Chen only had five points on the day, but they came in the first quarter when nobody else on Golden State could buy a basket. Laeticia Amihere, who has been out of the rotation for practically the entire postseason, had five points, with four of them coming in the third quarter when the Valkyries only scored nine points as a team. Finally, Tiffany Hayes had three points, six rebounds and four assists, making an impact despite going 1 of 12 from the field.
On a day when Williams was the only Valkyrie to score in double digits, the ability for the Valkyries' bench to add 20 points to the final score made all the difference. The Dream are going to have to figure out how to get their bench players activated.
Loser: The Dream's fourth-quarter offense
The last 10 minutes of Game 1 were ugly for Atlanta
Look, neither team shot the ball well in this game, especially in the second half. But the Dream's fourth-quarter offense deserves its own roasting because it was one of the worst quarters of offensive basketball you will see any team play in the postseason. As a team, the Dream were 2 of 19 (10.5%) from the field and 0 of 7 from outside. No playersmade more than one basket. None of their trio of All-Stars – Reese, Howard or Allisha Gray – scored from the field.
To put this another way: The Valkyries shot 4 of 16 (25%) from the field and 1 of 7 (14.3%) from the arc and won the quarter 17-8. The Dream only scored four points in the final 6:23 of the game, and zero points in the final 3:12. That simply cannot happen when it matters the most in the biggest game of the season, no matter how good the defense is from the Valkyries.
Winner: Allisha Gray's hand
There was a silver lining for the Dream in the loss
Let's finish on a bright spot for the Dream: Allisha Gray's hand looks to be okay. Gray injured her hand in Game 1 of the semifinal series against the New York Liberty and hadn't played since. She had a mysterious procedure on her hand during the time off between the semis and Finals and was a game-time decision on Saturday. But Gray was able to play, and while it wasn't her best offensive game, she honestly looked better out there than most players.
Gray had a team-high 19 points, going 5 of 19 from the field and 1 of 8 from outside. And while yes, those 3-point numbers are worrisome, the fact that she went 8 of 8 from the free-throw line indicates that her shooting form is still in good shape. That's good news for the Dream's hopes to rebound from the Game 1 loss.
