It took a fair amount of juggling, but the Atlanta Dream will host Game 3 of the WNBA Finals tonight against the Golden State Valkyries at the city's State Farm Arena, which holds more than 17,000 fans, instead of the team's 3,500-seat home gym. It's an 8 ET tip on NBC. Trade on sports at Kalshi with the best promo code CBSSPORTS55 and get a $55 bonus after $25 in trades:
At -2.5 at DraftKings, Atlanta is taking only 14% of handle and 38% of bets. On the total, Under 151.5 points is taking heavy action. With the WNBA Finals tied 1-1, the Dream are -135 on the series line and the Valkyries +115. Atlanta in six is the +300 leader. Both teams are seeking their first WNBA championship. Spend $5+ and get $150 in bonus bets instantly at DraftKings here:
Since 2021, the Dream generally have played at Gateway Center Arena at College Park, which is not much more than a practice gym. With the rising popularity of the WNBA, the Dream did play six regular-season games at State Farm Arena, home of the NBA's Hawks, and all three home playoff games thus far, going 3-0. Game 3 originally was to be played Thursday, but State Farm Arena was booked for a Sombr concert that night. I honestly have no idea who that is.
Thankfully, the WNBA managed to move Game 3 up to Wednesday with little issue, and that's probably a good thing in terms of not going up against Patriots-Bears on Thursday Night Football. Saturday's Game 4 was moved up from 3:30 ET to 1 ET so it could be played at State Farm ahead of the Hawks hosting the Rockets there that night. The Dream will play there full-time starting in 2027.
Atlanta stole home-court advantage of this series with a 79-65 upset win in Game 2 on Monday to even things up. Dream All-Star Angel Reese, the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, can rub some people the wrong way, but she's a fantastic player and dominated that victory with 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting along with 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. After going scoreless in the second half of the opener, Reese said she would be more "assertive."
She became only the third player (Jonquel Jones in 2019) and Breanna Stewart (in 2020) to score at least 30 points and grab at least 15 rebounds in a WNBA Finals game. And it made Reese (24 years, 166 days on Monday) the youngest player in league history to post a double-double in the WNBA Finals and was Atlanta's first win at that level in 11 all-time tries. Guard Jordin Canada wasn't far from a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Reese is -200 for a double-double tonight and Canada +500. No other player is below +2000 on either side.
Valkyries vs. Dream same-game parlay
- Atlanta money line
- Alt Under 160.5
FanDuel SGP price: +110 (subject to change)
But the Dream's defense was arguably the difference in holding the Valkyries to 34.4% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers â scoring 24 points off those. Rhyne Howard set a Finals record with six steals, while four of the five Golden State starters had two or more turnovers. By comparison, in its Game 1 victory, Golden State had 10 total turnovers and surrendered eight points off those.
"It's frustrating, that's been part of our identity. Because our identity is defense, we hang our hats on that," Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. "The hustle is the turnovers, because in order for you to get turnovers they have to kind of outhustle you to create the turnovers."
Nakase made a point to notice the fouls differential in Game 2. Usually, the home team gets the benefit of the whistles, especially in the playoffs. But in Atlanta's win, it went 30-of-35 from the foul line to Golden State's 16-of-19. The Dream took over in the third quarter by outscoring the Valkyries 21-9 and going 12-for-12 from the line.
I certainly expect more tonight from Golden State star Gabby Williams, set at Over/Under 18.5 points. After 26 points in Game 1, she was held to 14 on Monday on 3-of-15 shooting. The Valkyries' starting lineup shot 9-of-35 and committed 11 turnovers, and Williams was the only player to score in double figures. Golden State averaged WNBA's fewest turnovers during the season at 11.5 total per game. Their 19 in Game 2 were a franchise record.
It's no real surprise that this has been a slugfest â both teams have shot below 35% in each game -- so far as Golden State had the WNBA's best defensive rating during the regular season and Atlanta was third.
If you're interested in parlay betting, I've put together a same-game parlay for Wednesday's matchup between the Valkyries and Dream that can be crafted at the top sports betting apps. Bet on NBA games with the Caesars Sportsbook promo code CBSSPORTSBR250:
Golden State hasn't lost back-to-back games in almost exactly a month but has also dropped two of its past four away, including playoffs, and both wins were in overtime. A raucous sellout crowd is expected in Atlanta â which is the deeper team. The Valkyries are overly depedent on Williams. Check out other expert picks in the SportsLine daily newsletter.
