SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Natalie Nakase saw it in her team’s much-improved body language — shoulders back and head ups. Golden State’s huddle got tighter as the close-knit Valkyries came together.
The second-year coach believes much of that had to do with her own better messaging and delivery for a Game 4 win at Atlanta that evened the best-of-seven WNBA Finals at 2-2 going back to the Bay Area.
Point guard Veronica Burton believes everyone could see it, because it’s tough not to notice player’s head down or visible disappointment with a missed shot — and that all of that can be just as contagious as a positive swing in a game.
“You guys probably can even see it on court. You pick up on it. You see when your teammate’s head is down, you see when maybe someone’s not as engaged after missing a shot,” Burton said before Game 5. “It’s little things like that that can trickle down to someone else and seep into each other. So it’s all of us, it’s not just one person. When things don’t go our way, how do we respond and how do we react? All of that matters.”
Golden State hopes to continue that positive momentum as it takes on Angel Reese and Atlanta again in Game 5 with support from the hostile, noisy “Ballhalla” crowd at Chase Center.
Dream coach Karl Smesko realizes how hard it is for Reese to dominate every game against the Valkyries and their stingy defense. She did it here in winning Game 2 to salvage a split on Golden State’s home floor.
Reese had 30 points and 16 rebounds in last Monday’s 79-65 victory that evened the series.
“I think you’ll see an energized Angel. I think she’ll play great today,” Smesko said. “In the games that we won she had historically great performances. That’s not easy to do every game against a tremendous defense like Golden State.”
The Valkyries changed up their lineup for Game 4 with Nakase inserting Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles into the starting five — and she stayed with those two Monday night.
And if you ask any of them, who starts the game isn’t an issue. Nakase is challenging herself to make sure everyone is ready to contribute.
“It’s on me to get them to play with a sense of fight that they play connected and I thought they did a great job in Game 4,” Nakase said, before adding: “Our team is our strength. We’ve said strength in numbers. Anyone can close, anyone can start, anyone can come off the bench, anyone can finish the game. It’s just so valuable that we can change our rotations, we can change our lineups, that’s what’s kind of dangerous about our team. It’s hard to scout when you have so many options, and so that’s what I love.”
Earlier Monday, the league announced Game 6 would be played at 17,000-seat State Farm Arena in Atlanta starting at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday.
“I’d like to see it be a national holiday for all WNBA championship games so whatever somebody can do,” Smesko said. “I hope everybody gets to see it somehow and I know that for some people it’s not realistic, they have jobs and won’t be able to make it. So I’m disappointed for that but I’m really hopeful that as many people can see the game as possible.”
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