In a near-single-handed performance, Gabby Williams helped the Golden State Valkyries defeat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in game seven of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals to give the West Coast franchise a championship in the second year of its existence.
asserted
Valkyries → help → existence
Williams scored 28 of her game-high 30 points in the second half to force a turnaround and bag the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in San Francisco, California, on Saturday.
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Williams → score → Saturday
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4LeBron → shrug → 76ers
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Kiah Stokes converted a Williams miss into a key hoop with 53 seconds left to the deafening cheers of “Ballhalla”, as the Valkyries’ home crowd is known at the Chase Center.
In what was mostly a defensive struggle, Williams made the difference in the end, including winning a jump ball over Allisha Gray with 8.3 seconds to go.
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Williams → eject → seconds
With the likes of former San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds and multiple NBA title-winner Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors rooting her on, Veronica Burton was fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining and produced the final points in the Valkyries’ storybook season.
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Burton → root → season
On a night when the WNBA had its first game seven in a championship final series, strength in numbers was credited with propelling the second-year franchise to historic heights.
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strength → have → heights
From owner Joe Lacob to coach Natalie Nakase and MVP Williams, one number stood out: 18,064.
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number → stand → 18,064
“Ballhalla,” Lacob screamed into a microphone in tribute to the capacity crowd during the trophy ceremony.
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Lacob → scream → ceremony
Williams overcame a two-point first half to become the first player in WNBA postseason history to score 28 points in a half.
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Williams → overcome → half
The Valkyries’ only All-Star, who was added as a free agent in the offseason, joined Lacob in thanking a crowd that has sold out every game in franchise history, setting league attendance records.
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that → add → records
[Also] the community, the city, the [San Francisco] Bay [Area],” she gushed on court shortly after having been named the MVP.
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she → gush → court
“Y’all have been pouring into me all season.
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Y’all → pour → me
It’s a long season and y’all gave me energy.
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all → ’ → energy
“When the energy is this good and positive, it’s easy to come to work every day.
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it → ’ → work
That’s what I came here for.”
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I → ’ → what
Playing 38 of the game’s 40 minutes, Williams saved enough energy to do a Stephen Curry impersonation on a go-ahead three-pointer with two minutes and 18 seconds (2:18) to go and later win a key jump ball, and Kiah Stokes converted a rare Williams late miss into a key hoop with 53 seconds left, sending the violet-clad crowd into a frenzy.
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Stokes → play → frenzy
In the end, Nakase recognised the enormity of piecing together a bunch of players left unprotected in the expansion draft, a handful of international imports and one key free-agent signing into the league’s second-best regular-season record and a victory in the first-ever game seven in WNBA history.
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Nakase → recognise → history
“This is for all the people out there who are underrated, misunderstood.
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who → misunderstand → people
This is for all y’all,” she insisted from midcourt to her home fans and a national television audience as well.
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she → insist → fans
“This is proof: If you put all your heart and all your soul [into it], you can win championships.”
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you → put → championships
Rallying from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter, the Valkyries were tied at 53-all midway through the fourth after Gray connected on a short jumper for Atlanta with 5:14 to play.
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Gray → rally → 5:14
Williams, after spearheading an earlier rally, came alive again.
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Williams → spearhead → rally
She hit two free throws with 3:34 to go and a driving hoop 32 seconds later as the teams exchanged baskets.
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teams → hit → baskets
She then buried arguably the most important shot in Valkyries’ history — a 31-footer to give Golden State the lead for good at 60-57 with 2:18 to go.
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She → bury → 2:18
She added two free throws, and when Stokes tipped in her teammate’s miss in the final minute, Chase Center erupted as Golden State had a 64-57 advantage that it was able to protect through the end.
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it → add → end
“We didn’t let anyone put a limit on us all year,” demanded Burton, who backed Williams with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
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who → let → points
“When you work hard, and you put your head down and drive, anything’s possible.”
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anything → work → head
Williams’s 30 points were her second-most in a playoff game, topped only by the 36 she had in game two of Golden State’s first-round series win over the Dallas Wings on September 30.
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she → top → September
She made 10 of her 23 field-goal attempts on Saturday when neither team shot well.
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team → make → Saturday
She set records for most points (137) and most steals (18) in a WNBA Finals.
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She → set → Finals
She also found time for four of Golden State’s eight blocks in the championship game.
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She → find → game
Besides holding Dream star Angel Reese to eight points, Stokes had a game-high 13 rebounds for the Valkyries, who won despite making just five of their 20 three-point shots.
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who → hold → shots
The Golden State centre also had two blocks, giving her a WNBA Finals-record 19 en route to her fourth title.
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centre → have → title
Tiffany Hayes also aided the Golden State cause with 11 points.
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Hayes → aid → points
Jordin Canada had 18 points and Gray 16 for Atlanta, which shot just 33.3 percent overall (23 of 69) and went 6-for-30 from beyond the arc.
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which → have → arc
“I’m just grateful I got to go to war with this group,” Reese, who led Atlanta with 12 rebounds, assured the media afterwards.
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who → ’m → media
“It’s tough in the moment, but we’ll be back.”
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we → ’ → moment
Dream coach Karl Smesko lamented what he called “a lot of little stretches” of subpar play, including a game-opening 5:19 in which Atlanta went scoreless, falling behind 8-0 while missing eight straight shots — four three-pointers and four shots from inside the arc that were all blocked — and tossing in four turnovers.
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that → lament → turnovers
“It’s beyond frustrating that we didn’t accomplish what we set out to accomplish,” he admitted at his postgame news conference.
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he → ’ → conference
…and 1 more, not listed.
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