The Dream’s hopes of clinching its first-ever WNBA championship took a tough blow after their 64–55 Game 5 loss to the Valkyries on Monday night. Once holding a 2–1 lead in the Finals series, Atlanta now finds itself in a 2–3 hole, one game away from a cruel postseason elimination.

Golden State’s defense proved yet again to be the game-changer, as the Valks contained Angel Reese to single-digit points (seven) for the second time in the series. The Dream as a whole were limited to just 55 points, becoming the first team to score fewer than 60 points in a WNBA Finals game since the Mercury put up 50 in 2021.

The fact that Valkyries-Dream matchups this series have mostly been low-scoring affairs should come as no surprise.…