A First-Time WNBA Champion Awaits as Valkyries and Dream Open the Finals

The WNBA will crown a first-time champion this year, with the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream meeting in a best-of-seven Finals series that neither franchise has ever won.

Game 1 tipped off on Saturday in San Francisco, where the second-year Valkyries held off the Dream 68–64 to take the early lead. It is only the eighth time in the league’s 30-year history that the Finals have featured two teams both still seeking their first title.

Williams carries Golden State

Gabby Williams scored 26 points, including 16 in the second quarter, and made the decisive free throws twice in the closing minutes to seal the win. She was the only Valkyrie to reach double figures, as Golden State shot 32.1 percent from the field and made just 7 of 33 three-point attempts.

Atlanta, which had not lost at any point in the postseason, was led by Allisha Gray’s 19 points and a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds from Angel Reese. But the Dream’s leading scorers were held in check, with Gray shooting 5-of-19 and Rhyne Howard 3-of-14. Golden State closed the game on a 7–0 run and out-rebounded Atlanta 41–35.

Golden State’s Kiah Stokes tied a playoff career high with four blocks, while Kaila Charles set a playoff career high with 10 rebounds. The loss snapped Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak dating to the regular season and was its first defeat of the playoffs.

Two paths to the Finals

The Valkyries, an expansion team in just their second season, swept the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals. If they win the title, they would become the fastest expansion team in league history to do so. The Dream swept the New York Liberty, the 2025 champions, to reach the Finals for the fourth time, and for the first time since 2013.

Atlanta has been swept in each of its three previous Finals appearances, in 2010, 2011 and 2013, so the franchise is still searching for its first Finals victory. Golden State won the regular-season series between the teams 3–0, but the clubs had not met in more than three months, making Game 1 something of a step into the unknown.

“We always knew we were going to find a way somehow,” Williams said after Game 1, crediting the defensive habits the team has built all season. Coach Natalie Nakase has made defence the Valkyries’ foundation, and it carried them again in the opener, while Atlanta’s Karl Smesko said his team would return to the film to adjust.

Both teams reached the Finals by beating recent champions, and both built their seasons on defence. Golden State’s ability to force tough shots and control the glass proved the difference in a game decided in the final minute.

The series is far from settled, however. Atlanta’s regular-season meeting with Golden State came more than three months before Game 1, and the Dream showed enough in the opener to suggest the matchup will remain tight.

The Finals are being shown on NBC and USA Network as part of the league’s new media rights deal, the first time in years that ESPN is not broadcasting the championship round. Game 2 is set for Monday in San Francisco.

Sources

Reports from the Associated Press, WNBA.com, ESPN and Golden State Valkyries media (October 2026).