Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries Are Top Defensive Teams in WNBA, Now Facing Off in Finals
The Finals matchup features three All-Defensive selections on each side, including Angel Reese, who won Defensive Player of the Year.
- On Saturday, October 17, 2026, the Atlanta Dream face the Golden State Valkyries in the 2026 WNBA Finals at San Francisco's Chase Center, tipping off a best-of-seven championship series.
- Led by 2026 Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, the Atlanta Dream reached their first Finals since 2013 after acquiring her from the Chicago Sky in an offseason trade that transformed their roster.
- Golden State Valkyries, a second-year expansion team, swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals under coach Natalie Nakase, becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the Finals in their second season.
- Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray remains questionable for Game 1 after undergoing a minor surgical procedure on her shooting hand, creating uncertainty for the team's leading scorer during the championship series.
- Unprecedented demand for the league's 30th season has pushed ticket prices to record levels, with get-in costs exceeding $200 for opening games at Chase Center and Atlanta's State Farm Arena.
87 Articles
87 Articles
Chicago Sun Times
Usa newsSix months after the Sky traded her away, Angel Reese is in the WNBA Finals
<p>SAN FRANCISCO — The thing that I’ve always found spookiest about former <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky" target="_blank" ><u>Sky</u></a> star Angel Reese is the way she speaks things into existence.</p><p>She’d put pretty much every accomplishment this year — from making the FIBA World Cup team to being named Defensive Player of the Year to reaching her first WNBA Finals — out into the universe well beforehand.<…
The Toronto Star
Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries are top defensive teams in WNBA, now facing off in finals
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State forward Kayla Thornton knows every basket in the WNBA Finals will be tough to come by, given how much the Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream take pride in making stops.
Journal Gazette & Times-Courier
WNBA Finals between Valkyries, Dream will be defensive masterclass. Who has the edge?
The Valkyries, who had the best defensive rating in the regular season, advanced to the WNBA Finals to face the Dream, who've had the best defensive rating in the postseason.
Reasons to get excited for Valkyries vs. Dream in the 2026 WNBA Finals
A monumental WNBA campaign reaches its resolution. The league’s 30th season has given us sensational scoring and “The Spectacle,” record-setting viewership and all-consuming crises. It now comes down to two deserving adversaries tangling atop the summit.
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