WNBA Finals Basketball

Much like Warriors coach Steve Kerr did in 2015 moving Andre Iguodala into Golden State's starting lineup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the NBA franchise's first championship in 40 years, Natalie Nakase shook up the Golden State Valkyries' starters for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream. It paid off with her Valkyries evening the best-of-seven series at 2 games apiece as it heads back to the Bay Area for Game 5 on Monday night.

Kiah Stokes had 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, Veronica Burton added 13 points and eight rebounds, and the Golden State Valkyries moved within one win of a championship in their second season, beating the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals. Angel Reese finished with seven points, 15 rebounds and five assists — a big difference from her two standout performances in the first two games of the series at Chase Center. Reese shook her head when whistled for the second of her three offensive fouls with 7:43 to play. Fans screamed and clapped thunder sticks following the final buzzer as Stokes spoke from the floor to chants of “MVP!”