WNBA Finals Game 7: Atlanta Dream Lead the Golden State Valkyries 30-24 at Halftime in San Francisco
The first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history is a defensive fight at halftime: Golden State opened 8-0, Atlanta missed its first 10 shots — and the Dream still lead 30-24 at the break, 20 minutes from a first championship for one of these franchises. This is a live file; no winner is claimed.
The first Game 7 in the history of the WNBA Finals is living up to the stakes, if not the shooting percentages. The Atlanta Dream lead the Golden State Valkyries 30-24 at halftime at Chase Center in San Francisco, with a championship — the first for whichever franchise wins it — 20 minutes away.
Golden State struck first and held Atlanta scoreless for more than five minutes, opening on an 8-0 run while the Dream missed their first 10 shots. But Atlanta shot 6-of-6 for the rest of the first quarter to trail only 14-12, then owned the second quarter 18-10 to take the lead into the locker room. Veronica Burton led the Valkyries with six points in the first quarter and Kaila Charles added four; Allisha Gray, whose 23 points forced this game on Thursday, led the Dream early with five.
The series has run on mistakes: all six previous games were decided by points scored off turnovers, USA TODAY's live file noted, and Golden State conceded 18 points on 12 turnovers in Game 6, when Atlanta's 13 three-pointers tied a Finals record for a team facing elimination. Thursday's pattern is holding at halftime: the team protecting the ball is the team in front.
Atlanta, founded in 2008 and 0-3 in its previous Finals trips, and Golden State, in only its second season of existence, are playing the first Game 7 the Finals have ever needed. This story is a halftime file and claims no winner; the Sports Desk files the final — and the league's newest champion — on the game-night roundup.
