In the immortal words of Atlanta legend Zaza Pachulia, "We're going to Game 7, baby! Game 7!" The Atlanta Dream kept their season alive with an 80-69 win over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 6 of the 2026 Finals on Thursday afternoon to even the series at 3-3 and force Game 7 -- the first in WNBA history -- back in San Francisco on Saturday.
In front of a sold-out crowd that showed up ready to rock despite the early start time, the Dream went on a 13-0 run almost immediately and built a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter. They led by as many as 25 early in the second quarter, and seemed as though they would run the Valkyries out of the gym.
The second half was not as pretty as the first, however, and though it never felt like the Dream were actually in danger of losing, they did have to hold off a late surge from the Valkyries, who cut the deficit down to eight late in the fourth quarter.
Allisha Gray, who made a 3-pointer from the corner to officially put the game away, finished with 23 points, while Rhyne Howard added 21 in what was the highest-scoring game of the Finals for both of the Dream's backcourt stars. Angel Reese had another rough shooting night, but went for 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, while the Dream as a team shot 13 of 30 (43.3%) from 3-point range in by far their best shooting game of the Finals.
Gabby Williams scored 26 points in defeat for the Valkyries, who also got 15 points from Tiffany Hayes, but had no one else reach double figures.
Here are some winners and losers from Game 6:
Winners: Atlanta fans
The WNBA's decision to hold Game 6 at 12:30 p.m. ET was met with plenty of criticism and confusion, but the people of Atlanta made the best of an unfortunate situation. Game 6 was a sellout; the crowd inside State Farm Arena was ready to go right from the opening tip and kept the party going all afternoon long.
T-Pain even showed up for a halftime concert in what was surely the earliest performance of his illustrious career.
The energy inside the arena was a major factor in the Dream's hot start, which effectively decided the game. They ripped off a 13-0 run in the opening minutes and never looked back. By the end of the first quarter, they were up by 17, which was enough of an advantage to carry them through the rest of the game.
Loser: Kiah Stokes
Stokes was getting MVP chants after Game 5 and had a legitimate chance to win Finals MVP with another strong showing and a win on Thursday. Instead, she had her least effective performance of the series.
Stokes went scoreless, grabbed only seven rebounds and did not block a single shot over 20 minutes. All of those marks were tied for series lows, and the Valkyries were -25 with her on the floor. On a personal level, Stokes' chances of winning Finals MVP are almost certainly gone after her second scoreless outing of the series.
The Valkyries need Stokes to control the paint in Game 7 if they want to come away with the first title in Finals history.
Winner: Allisha Gray
This has been a tough series for the four-time All-Star, who is playing through a hand injury that sidelined her for most of the semifinals and required a "minor" procedure just before the Finals.
Through the first five games, Gray was averaging 12 points on 28.1% shooting from the field, including 5 of 26 (19.2%) from 3-point range, and had as many turnovers as assists (nine). Her ineffective play was a major reason the Dream found themselves down 3-2 heading into Thursday.
In Game 6, Gray finally stepped up. She scored Atlanta's first two baskets, and her 3-pointer from the corner with 56 seconds remaining was the dagger. Gray finished with a team-high 23 points on 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks.
She had exactly as many points in Game 6 as she did in Games 3-5 combined, and made as many 3s as she had in the first five games combined.
Loser: Veronica Burton's offense
Four minutes into Game 6, Veronica Burton was alone under the basket and missed a wide-open layup that would have brought the Valkyries back within one. As she lay on the ground, Naz Hillmon accidentally kicked her in the face. That about summed up this series for Burton.
Burton has been incredible on the defensive end and done all the dirty work, but has taken an immense amount of punishment for her trouble and has gotten nothing going on the offensive end. She finished Game 6 with eight points on 2 of 13 from the field, and missed all six of her 3-point attempts.
This was the third time in six games that Burton has failed to reach double figures this series, and she's now averaging 8.8 points on 26.5% shooting from the field, including 6 of 29 (20.7%) from 3-point range. Burton isn't known for her scoring, but that simply isn't good enough, especially when she's shooting as much as she has in the last three games.
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1 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 28.6% |
2 | 11 | 4 | 9 | 44.4% |
3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 14.3% |
4 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 23.5% |
5 | 13 | 5 | 15 | 33.3% |
6 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 15.4% |
Winner: The WNBA
The league has to be thrilled that the Dream won, if only so that they avoided the bad press about crowning a champion at lunchtime on a Thursday, and the logistics of holding a trophy ceremony while State Farm Arena staff tried to usher them off the court in order to swap out the floor for the Atlanta Hawks game later Thursday night.
In the end, the WNBA largely got everything it wanted: a sold-out crowd at State Farm Arena, the first Game 7 in league history and no rushed celebration. And all it cost them was a few days of bad press.
