The Golden State Valkyries brought to a conclusion a WNBA season that shattered viewership and attendance records with their first WNBA championship Saturday in a thrilling 68-63 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 7.
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that → bring → Game
Golden State star Gabby Williams paced the Valkyries with 30 points, 4 blocks and 3 steals in 38 minutes.
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Williams → pace → minutes
"All we heard last year: We don't have no stars, we don't have no talent," Williams said after the game.
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Williams → hear → game
We got good people.
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We → get → people
We got winners."
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We → get → winners
Jordin Canada led the Atlanta Dream in scoring with 18 points, adding 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
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Canada → lead → assists
Atlanta superstar Angel Reese struggled throughout the game, finishing with 8 points on 3-of-7 shooting in 33 minutes.
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Reese → struggle → minutes
The league transitioned from a five-game series to a seven-game series starting last year.
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league → transition → series
The league set a new attendance record with 3.8 million fans attending 330 regular season games, according to the WNBA.
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fans → set → WNBA
The league said average attendance was up 21% from last year's record high.
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attendance → say → high
ESPN, ABC and CBS all delivered their most-watched seasons in history, according to the WNBA.
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ESPN → deliver → WNBA
The league had three times as many games averaging at least 1 million viewers as the previous record set last year.
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league → have → record
How they got here
The Valkyries, despite having just one All-Star, took a major leap in just their second year in the league.
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Valkyries → get → league
The team is owned by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who also own the Golden State Warriors.
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who → own → Warriors
The team quickly became relevant, going 23-21 in their first year in existence before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
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team → become → playoffs
The signing of Gabby Williams in the offseason propelled the team to even greater success.
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signing → propel → success
The Valkyries went 32-12 in the regular season and beat the Paige Bueckers-led Dallas Wings and A'ja Wilson-led Las Vegas Aces to advance to the title series.
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Valkyries → go → series
The Dream didn't lose a game on its path to the title series, defeating the Kiki Iriafen-led Washington Mystics and the Breanna Stewart-led New York Liberty in sweeps.
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Dream → lose → sweeps
The Valkyries won Game 1 at home, 68-64, behind 26 points from Williams.
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Valkyries → win → Williams
Atlanta dominated the next two games behind all-time great performances from star Angel Reese.
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Atlanta → dominate → Reese
The Dream star posted 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2 and 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3.
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star → post → Game
Reese struggled to score in Games 4 and 5, shooting just 4-of-20 with 15 points combined, as the Valkyries wrestled control of the series away from the Dream.
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Valkyries → struggle → Dream
Game 6 controversy
Game 6 started at 12:30 p.m. since the Atlanta Hawks were scheduled to play at the State Farm Arena on Thursday night.
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Hawks → start → night
The Dream plays its regular season games at Gateway Center Arena, but its capacity is just 3,500 compared to about 17,000 at State Farm Arena.
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capacity → play → Arena
"This incredible run by our players has also made something else abundantly clear: the Atlanta Dream has earned the right to be taken seriously," the team's ownership, husband and wife Larry Gottesdiener and Robyn Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair and Renee Montgomery, said in a statement.
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ownership → make → statement
"Two months ago, when the WNBA finalized playoff dates and times, we raised concerns that the W Finals schedule conflicted with NBA games at State Farm Arena," the statement continued.
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statement → finalize → Arena
"As we moved through the playoffs, we reiterated those concerns.
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we → move → concerns
Our concerns did not receive the attention, nor the urgency that they deserved."
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they → receive → that
Despite the early start time, the Dream still sold out the arena.
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Dream → sell → arena
In a statement, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league preferred to play the game at State Farm Arena.
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league → say → Arena
"The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere at State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success, and we're excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line," said Engelbert.
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Engelbert → give → line
"We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible.
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move → thank → collaboration
We look forward to delivering another unforgettable Finals experience in Atlanta."
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We → look → Atlanta
The Aporia
