There can be moments in a playoff series when it feels like a team loses more than just the game.
asserted
team → feel → game
When a team loses its rhythm, its confidence, its sense of who it is.
asserted
it → lose → rhythm
Game 3 felt like one of those moments for the Valkyries.
The Atlanta Dream captured back-to-back wins to take a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals.
asserted
Dream → capture → Finals
A 27-point blowout prompted Gabby Williams to immediately deliver an impassioned message to her teammates in a huddle on the floor.
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blowout → prompt → floor
Williams told NBC broadcasters that she didn’t recognize the team.
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she → tell → team
The Valkyries disconnected from the defensive identity that had carried them to this moment.
asserted
that → disconnect → moment
On Saturday, the Valkyries got back to who they are.
asserted
they → get → Saturday
They defended with purpose, trusted their teammates and dug deep to outlast the Dream 67-62, which evened the series at two wins apiece.
asserted
which → defend → wins
“The beauty of our sport is as bad as we felt on Wednesday,” Williams said, “we get to turn around and make it right up today.”
asserted
we → feel → it
Golden State flipped the script on the Dream.
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State → flip → Dream
The Valkyries converted 18 Atlanta turnovers into 16 points and committed only nine giveaways of their own.
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Valkyries → convert → own
They also attempted 18 more field goals than the Dream.
asserted
They → attempt → Dream
Four Valkyries players finished in double-digit scoring.
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players → finish → scoring
Williams led the way with 17 points.
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Williams → lead → points
Tiffany Hayes scored seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to help seal Golden State’s win.
asserted
Hayes → score → win
Kiah Stokes had 16 rebounds, including eight offensive boards, and blocked three shots.
Golden State made the Dream work for everything.
asserted
Dream → have → everything
For the first time in the series, Angel Reese, a front-runner for Finals MVP through the first three games, didn’t notch a double-double, finishing with only eight points and nine rebounds.
asserted
Reese → notch → points
The Valkyries changed their starting lineup, replacing Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini with Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles.
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Valkyries → change → Hayes
But that wasn’t Golden State’s biggest adjustment, according to Williams.
uncertain
that → accord → Williams
“Again, defense,” she said.
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she → say → ?
“I’m sorry if I sound redundant but we just picked up our ball pressure.
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we → ’m → pressure
We’re a bit more connected today and that gives us our energy.”
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that → ’re → energy
The Valkyries struggled to impose their will in Games 2 and 3.
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Valkyries → struggle → Games
In those losses, they allowed Atlanta to dictate the pace.
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Atlanta → allow → pace
The Valkyries knew they didn’t have to fully reinvent themselves to fight back.
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they → know → themselves
They just needed to recover the habits that made them so successful in the first place.
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them → need → place
After drifting away from their principles in the past two defeats, Game 4 was a course correction.
“We stopped letting the kind of officiating dictate the game,” Williams said.
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Williams → drift → game
We were expecting a foul call, we were expecting this, but this is the Finals.
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this → expect → this
It’s going to be physical.
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It → go → ?
It’s going to be tough, so we have to woman up.”
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we → go → ?
Stokes offered some valuable advice earlier in the week after the Valkyries fell into a 2-1 hole.
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Valkyries → offer → hole
“The goal when we play on the road… [is] just steal one on the road,” the three-time champion said.
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champion → play → road
“So yeah, we lost on… Wednesday, but to me, that doesn’t mean we’re out of anything
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we → lose → anything
Because our goal could still be accomplished if we won today and then we go back home and now it’s the best-of-three series.
uncertain
it → accomplish → three
So for me, it was just shake it off and learn from it and then just get ready because nothing was won or lost in Game 3.”
asserted
nothing → shake → Game
In what felt like a make-or-break moment, the Valkyries found their way back to who they are.
asserted
they → feel → way
The question now is whether they can stay there.
asserted
they → stay → ?
The Aporia
