For the first time since 2013, the Atlanta Dream made it to the WNBA finals. After an exciting finals series resulting in a winner-takes-all Game 7, the Golden State Valkyries have secured their first franchise championship. In doing so, they set the record for the fastest professional sports franchise to win a championship in their second year as a team.
The final loss came at the end of a winning season in which the Dream had a record of 30-14. The Dream ended up ranking first in the Eastern Conference and being the number four seed in the playoffs. After sweeping the Washington Mystics in the first round and New York Liberty in the second round, the Dream entered the finals with a 10-game winning streak.
This winning streak was quickly broken after a Game 1 loss in the finals. The Atlanta Dream then gained back to back victories in Games 2 and 3, followed by two Valkyries wins in Games 4 and 5. The Dream had their last postseason win in Game 6, which sent this finals series into a tiebreaking Game 7 matchup.
The Dream faced a major challenge going into the finals, as their regular season record against the Valkyries was 0-3. The two teams faced each other three times in the span of one week in early July, all ending in a favorable outcome for the Valkyries.
After the final championship game, Angel Reese, one of the Dream’s star players, said, “It’s tough in the moment, but we will be back. I always say, ‘delayed not denied.’” In her first playoffs performance of her career, Reese broke five WNBA records, including most points scored in a single WNBA finals series, with a total of 137 points throughout the seven matchups. Reese, and the rest of the Dream, will continue their search for the franchise’s first championship win next season.
