'We got our swagger back:' Dream force WNBA Finals Game 7 in rout, but can they maintain shooting rhythm?

ATLANTA — The thing Angel Reese learned in her first WNBA Finals appearance is that long series still go by fast. What's done is done, and what's to come is for the taking.

Trailing 3-2 in the series, and potentially 40 minutes from the experience ending, she and her Atlanta Dream teammates gathered together ahead of film sessions to talk through what it meant. They needed to gain confidence back following two losses marred by offensive woes. They emphasized how each could take a superstar turn, but everyone was needed.

By the end of the day's film and a final practice ahead of a must-win Game 6, they said they felt good about returning to Atlanta Dream basketball. They proved the talk true immediately.

"You could definitely tell we got our swagger back," Reese said.

The Dream's offense tore out of its funk and past the Golden State Valkyries' suffocating defense in Game 6 on Thursday, a jolt to West Coasters settling in with their breakfast for a 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT tip-off. The 80-69 win was more dominant than the final score indicated; the Dream led by 25 points with three minutes to go until the half.

It forced the first Game 7 in league history, and the Bay Area is preparing for the Halloween contest to be "Boohalla," a play on their home crowd moniker of "Ballhalla."

Atlanta's 32 first-quarter points were the most by either team in any quarter of this Finals and were at least half of its total output in each of its three series losses. The 32-15 advantage was the largest of any first quarter in Finals history.

Valkyries forward Gabby Williams called it "unacceptable" by Golden State, with a lack of ball pressure and aggression the biggest early downfalls.

"They did a good job today of setting the tone early," she said. "Obviously, we didn't."

The Dream won each of their three games by double digits, while the Valkyries' defense kept Atlanta to season lows in each of the Dream's single-digit losses.

"When we can punch first, we've won every single game," Reese said.

Everything after that initial jab was merely dressing, a continuation of the postseason party the Dream held at State Farm Arena. The 17,099 in a sold-out crowd barely registered the Valkyries' late comeback attempts until there was nothing to do but notice. Golden State fought back to within 11 with 2:36 to play — a dangerous spot for the Dream against a squad accustomed to late comebacks. They trailed again by 11 at 1:56, only to miss three 3-point attempts off a steal and two offensive rebounds.

Still, Golden State cut into the lead to pull to within eight, and finally the Dream closed the threat. Reese penetrated to draw a defender and kicked it out to Allisha Gray in the corner. Gray drained it with a screen from DeWanna Bonner to secure an extension of their season for another 40 minutes.

The Dream didn't need Reese to provide the elite offensive play of their previous victories. She missed finishes at the rim (5 of 18) and turned it over six times for a second time in this Finals. But with 15 points and 14 rebounds, she now has four double-doubles in six games.

"It was just a mental mindset of me being able to go out there and try to lead the team as best as I can, no matter how ugly it could be," Reese said. "As long as we came out with the win, I just wanted to do whatever it took."

A 3-pointer by Reese in the second quarter made victory nearly inevitable. The Dream are 16-0 when she makes one, and it was an area she came into the game wanting to maximize. Early in Game 5 she passed up an open look from 3, bypassing the team-wide green light coach Karl Smesko reiterated on Wednesday that includes Reese.

She took them this time, missing two early before hitting net in the second quarter to go up 42-19. By the time she hit her second, the Dream led 74-55 with 5:43 to play as fans began clearing their Halloween schedules. She bounced her way backward down the court before it even went in, a rather subdued Reese reaction for which the crowd more than made up.

The whole team hit fire from deep, a refreshing accomplishment in a defensive slog of a series. They were 6 of 8 in the first quarter from 3, with four of five starters making at least one. Rhyne Howard and Gray, playing with the pinky and ring finger of her shooting hand taped following minor surgery, each went 2 for 2.

By game's end they were 13 of 30 (43.3%) and equally as good from inside the arc (14 of 32, 43%). It is only the second time a team eclipsed the 40% mark in the series. The other was Atlanta in a Game 3 win (49.3%). In an evenly played game elsewhere — neither pulled away that thoroughly in turnovers or points off them — the 3-pointers were the difference.

"It's been frustrating for all of us not being able to shoot great," Reese said. "I always told the girls, 'It's not gonna rain forever,' and we were able to maximize that moment today. And the sun peeked out a little bit more today and gave us the opportunity to see Game 7."

As much confidence as the reemergence instilled in the better offensive squad, the Dream have been here before. They were 40.9% from 3 in the Game 3 win and 49.3% overall, allowing Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase her favorite thing: bad defensive game film to study and reassess. Atlanta shot worse than 34% in each of its losses and a combined 14 of 74 from 3.

And the Valkyries won the second half, 43-35, by playing their own slower pace to nearly burst the city's dream bubble. Williams led all scorers with 26 points despite another inefficient day (8 of 22) and found her way to the line (7 of 8). It was the first time in the series Golden State attempted more free throws. Laeticia Amihere, a lower bench option ever since a promising Game 1 start as a reserve defender for Reese, was a spark in place of Kiah Stokes.

Nakase lamented her messaging again, rhetorically asking those at-large if the communication to her players was foggy. She knew the Dream were going to come out desperate. And they did.

"We just didn't do it," Nakase said of her team's lack of early defensive pressure that ultimately decided the game. "See how frustrating that is? It's frustrating when we just didn't do it."

Point guard Veronica Burton insisted the Valkyries didn't come into Game 6 thinking they had two chances at the 'chip. Yet, it looked that way. As Williams, who lit a fire under the Valkyries to win two in a row for a series lead, answered questions abruptly, Burton made clear their body language at the podium in the face of an unnerving loss and what they actually felt moving into the final game were two different things.

"At the end of the day, we feel good," Burton said. "Yes, we lost. It was a bad game for us. We had a terrible first quarter, but we cleaned it up. We found a way. We didn't quit. Games 2 and 3 were ugly; we quit, we looked bad."

The question is if the Valks can carry that style back across the country one more time. The league's longest season is officially at its finish line. There aren't bound to be many tricks or surprises between teams that know each other this well. And now the franchise's first championship is either's to claim.