Kiah Stokes limits Angel Reese, lights up from 3 to lead Valkyries past Dream in Game 5
· Yahoo Sports
The Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream are going where no WNBA team has gone before: Deep into a best-of-seven series. These teams have faced off, learned tendencies and flown back-and-forth to each other's cities for weeks.
Stripped of most unknowns on Monday in Game 5, both teams played to their strength: Defense. The resulting slugfest produced one of the lowest-scoring Finals games in WNBA history. It also put the Valkyries one win from a championship.
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Golden State's 64-55 win at Chase Center gave it a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PT in Atlanta.
Center Kiah Stokes was the center of it all, making her case for MVP of these Finals.
The Valkyries knew they'd go as far as their defense would take them. While that started with Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton fortifying the point of attack, Stokes has been breaking down opposing teams' stars and breaking records as an elite rim protector.
In the Valkyries' wins, Stokes has been the key to limiting Angel Reese as her primary defender.
As Game 5 turned into a muddy defensive battle, Stokes prevented Reese from penetrating to the paint, shutting down any glimmer of the Angel Show that starred in the Dream's victories in Games 2 and 3.
Reese scored seven points, shooting 2-for-8 from the field, and wrangled 15 rebounds, unable to get a double-double for a second straight game.
Stokes tallied three blocks for a sixth straight game, tying with Lisa Leslie in 2003 for the longest such streak in a single postseason in WNBA playoff history. In Game 4, she set the WNBA record for total blocks in a Finals series with 14.
She and Veronica Burton led the Valkyries' rebounding frenzy with eight apiece. Unlike the rest of her playoffs, Stokes was a primary scorer and got relatively hot from deep, making 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Her three 3-pointers are her playoff career high over her nine career trips to the postseason. Her 13 points tied her season high and matched Burton for a team high Monday.
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