WNBA Finals: Dream rediscover 3-point stroke, force Game 7 after riding dominant first half to resurgent win over Valkyries

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray came out firing on Thursday in Game 6 of the WNBA Finals and finished with 23 points and five 3s in an 80-69 win over the Golden State Valkyries on Oct. 29 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)AP Photo/Brynn AndersonThe Atlanta Dream knocked down just six 3-pointers during their Game 5 defeat to the Golden State Valkyries in this year’s WNBA Finals. Karl Smesko’s team netted that many triples in the first quarter of Game 6 three days later on Thursday afternoon in front of a home crowd that was raucous as ever despite the much-discussed early tip-off.Atlanta’s first field goal was an Allisha Gray 3-pointer. That was a harbinger. The Dream went 6 of 8 from beyond the arc in the opening frame and wrapped the day with 13 makes from outside.Their 3-point barrage fueled an offensive resurgence. After scoring only 62 and 55 points in Games 4 and 5, both losses, the Dream piled up 32 in the first quarter alone, en route to a 17-point advantage. A 22-point second half from Gabby Williams inspired a late-game push from the Valkyries, but Gray’s fifth and final 3-pointer restored the Dream’s double-digit lead, and Atlanta forced the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history with a series-tying 80-69 win.The winner-take-all game will be played Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in Golden State’s Chase Center. Both the Dream and Valkyries are one win away from their first WNBA title in franchise history.Gray, who has been battling through a left hand injury, finished with a team-high 23 points on Thursday. She shot 5 of 7 from 3-point land. Rhyne Howard was 4 of 6 from long range and wasn’t far behind Gray on the stat sheet, registering 21 points. Although Angel Reese shot just 5 of 18 from the floor, she scored 15 points — the total she combined for the previous two games — and, with 14 rebounds, she notched her fourth double-double of the series. That’s the second most double-doubles any player has recorded in a single WNBA Finals.Missed layups haunted Golden State in the early going. Williams wasn’t exempt from those struggles. Still, she persevered to mount a game-high 26 points and draw the Valkyries within eight points with 1:15 to go.Game 6 tipped off just after its expected start time of 12:30 p.m. ET. When and where exactly in Atlanta the matchup was going to be held was previously up in the air due to fan demand and scheduling complications, namely the fact that State Farm Arena — which seats approximately 13,500 more people than the Dream’s home venue but has hosted the team’s games throughout its postseason run — was already going to be the site of an Atlanta Hawks regular-season game Thursday night.So in order for the stadium to fit both games in on Thursday, Dream-Valkyries had to be played early, a controversial compromise. Dream ownership clarified this week that, months ago, as well as again during the playoffs, it raised concerns about schedule conflicts like this one. Those concerns, according to Dream ownership, “did not receive the attention, nor the urgency that they deserved.”There was no rushed championship celebration Thursday afternoon, however. The Dream stretched the series, keeping their title hopes alive.This story is being updated.