Atlanta Dream players in a huddle. Photo: WNBA/Getty Images.
The Atlanta Dream are on the board in the WNBA Finals. Atlanta beat the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 at Chase Center on Monday, October 19, evening the best-of-seven series at one game apiece and securing the first Finals victory in franchise history.
This report was published on October 19 as a Game 2 preview and has been updated with the result. Atlanta then won Game 3 at State Farm Arena to take a 2-1 series lead.
How Atlanta Leveled It
Angel Reese carried the night with 30 points and 16 rebounds. Rhyne Howard set a WNBA Finals record with six steals, and Atlanta’s defense turned 19 Golden State turnovers into 24 points.
That combination is what a team chasing its first Finals win needs: a dominant individual performance inside a defensive game plan that held up over four quarters. The 14-point final margin was built on the turnovers as much as the shooting.
The result also answered the question hanging over the series after Game 1. Golden State had taken the opener 68-64, a four-point loss that ended Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak and marked the Dream’s first defeat of the postseason. Rather than letting that margin compound into a 2-0 hole, Atlanta closed it out.
“We Were Right There”
After Game 1, Dream head coach Karl Smesko described the result as a close one. “We were right there,” he said, according to the game report.
Game 2 proved him right in the most direct way available. Atlanta was right there in the opener, and two nights later it was ahead at the final buzzer.
A Finals Return More Than a Decade in the Making
This is Atlanta’s first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013. The return puts the Dream back on the championship stage and gives the team a chance to pursue a first Finals victory.
The milestone is significant, and Game 2 gave it a result to go with it. Those first Finals wins are now banked, and the series has moved on to Atlanta.
Where the Series Stands Now
Atlanta leads the series 2-1 after winning Game 3 at home, 97-71, on Wednesday, October 21. Reese finished that one with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Game 4 is Saturday, October 24 at 1 p.m. at State Farm Arena, the front half of a basketball doubleheader with the Hawks hosting Houston that night. A win would put Atlanta one game from a championship.
The home games follow a scheduling swap that moved them to the larger venue. That story is covered in our report, “The Dream Got Their Bigger Arena and Took the Series Lead: Atlanta Up 2-1 in the WNBA Finals,” which has the full venue timeline and the remaining schedule.
What Game 2 Meant
Atlanta’s first Finals appearance since 2013 now has its first Finals win attached to it, and the series turned on two nights in San Francisco. The Dream dropped a four-point game they felt they should have had, then answered by double digits.
That is the short version of how a series that looked like it might slip away became one Atlanta leads. Game 4 is Saturday afternoon at home.
For more local sports coverage, visit the Atlanta Wave TV newsroom.
Information is current as of October 22, 2026. This report is based on publicly available information. Atlanta Wave TV is not credentialed and is not attending the events.
