SAN FRANCISCO – Atlanta Dream Angel Reese (#5) shows her excitement as the Atlanta Dream win Game 2 of the WNBA Finals in a WNBA basketball game at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA, on October 19th, 2026(Photo credit: Getty Images)
By Michael Villanueva
SAN FRANCISCO – Ballhalla welcomed and hosted Game 2 of the WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream. The Valkyries took Game 1 on Saturday afternoon, 68-64. But a new day, a new game, and Atlanta lived up to it as the Dream got their first win of the Finals on the road over Golden State, 79-65. This loss was the Valkyries’ first time at home in this postseason, while the win for Atlanta was their first-ever Finals win.
After getting Golden State’s first-ever win in the WNBA Finals. Head coach Natalie Nakase has a lot of pride and respect for her starters, so she didn’t wanna change any of that. Nakase started Kayla Thornton, Cecilia Zandalasini, Kiah Stokes, Gabby Williams, and Veronica Burton. Williams scored a game-high 26 points for Golden State to give them the 1-0 series lead.
Atlanta’s head coach Karl Smesko, in his second year coaching in the WNBA, wasn’t concerned about the Dream’s Game 1 loss to the Valkyries. Coach Smesko believes and knows his team can make their shots in Game 1 when it was crunch time, but Atlanta couldn’t get over Golden State’s defense. So Coach Smesko went with the same group for the starters: Naz Hillmon, Angel Reese, Allisha Gray, Jordin Canada, and Rhyne Howard.
In the first quarter of the game, things were looking great for the Valkyries. Atlanta’s Angel Reese would get the game going with a made layup to have the Dream strike first in Ballhalla. Golden State’s Kaila Charles would sub in and, in just three minutes, would have 6 points after making two three-pointers for the Valkyries. At the end of the first quarter, Charles’ shooting off the bench helped give the Valkyries the lead, 21-18.
Heading into the second quarter, Atlanta was starting to build a rhythm, and they went with it. Especially with help from Angel Reese and Alisha Gray. Gray scored 8 points, and Reese scored 7 points by themselves. Gray also knocked down two big three-pointers for Atlanta, and their shooting gave the Dream the lead. Heading into halftime, the score was 39-37; the Valkyries were down by 2 points.
Coming back from halftime, the Valkyries were struggling in the third quarter. Golden State dropped 16 points in the second quarter, but came back in the third. The Valkyries were only able to score just 9 points. Atlanta took advantage of the Valkyries’ poor shooting and was able to extend their lead and play comfortably in Chase Center. Also, the Valkyries would foul the Dream seven times alone in the third quarter; they would finish with 23 fouls by the end of the game. Right before the end, Atlanta’s Jordin Canada would make a three-pointer at the logo to get her team hyped going into the final quarter of play.
In the final quarter, Atlanta’s lead was starting to get bigger over Golden State. Four minutes in, Dream got their largest lead in the night over the Valkyries by 21 points, 69-48. The Valkyries were having a hard time not fouling, and their shots weren’t going in for them. With under a minute left in the game, the Valkyries were down by 15 points. With time not on their side, the Valkyries were trying to move fast, but Jordin Canada got fouled with 40 seconds left and was able to put away Golden State for Atlanta.
The Atlanta Dream came back into Ballhalla and got the win in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. Atlanta was led by Angel Reese, who recorded a double-double: 30 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Reese’s performance helped Atlanta tie the series with Golden State. Valkyries will play Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta. Game 3 will be on October 21st at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Peacock, USA Network, and CNBC.
