Kiah Stokes continues to play the best ball of her career this postseason
And the center helped put her Golden State Valkyries one win away from a WNBA title.
Stokes had 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and shot 5-for-6 from the field Monday in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals to lead Golden State to a 64-55 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
Defense also continued to lead Golden State, which is in its second season in the WNBA after joining as an expansion team in 2025. And Stokes came up big there, too. She has blocked at least three shots in six consecutive games, which is tied with Lisa Leslie (2003) for the longest streak in a single postseason in WNBA playoff history.
The series shifts to Atlanta for Thursday’s Game 6, which will be played at 12:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.
ESPN was courtside at Ballhalla, providing live analysis, reaction and updates throughout Game 5.
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Postgame analysis | Relive the action
(2) Golden State Valkyries 64,
(4) Atlanta Dream 55
How the Valkyries won the game: The Valkyries were relentless defensively, so much so that there wasn’t any substantive stretch of the game when the Dream looked the least bit comfortable on offense. Golden State was everywhere: forcing turnovers, tipping away passes, blocking or changing shots, disrupting everything Atlanta tried to get going.
If you thought that was the case in Games 1 and 4, it was even more so in Game 5. There has been a lot of talk about the “head of the snake” in this series, referring to leaders on both teams. But Kiah Stokes has been like a boa constrictor for Golden State. Her three blocks Monday don’t fully tell the story of how central she was to Golden State squeezing the life out of the Dream’s offense. But that’s exactly what she led the way in doing. Per ESPN Research, Atlanta shot 1-of-7 (0-of-1 from 3) when she contested the shot. On offense, she went 3-of-3 on open shots, including 2-of-2 from 3, and tied her season high.
Atlanta starting forwards Angel Reese and Naz Hillmon were a combined 3-of-13 from the field for 9 points, and reserve guard-forward DeWanna Bonner took just two shots and didn’t score.
On top of her defensive prowess, Stokes also scored 13 points, making three 3-pointers. Per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Stokes has made three or fewer 3-pointers total in six of her 11 seasons in the league. But the 6-foot-3 center has put in the work so that those shots aren’t flukes. Overall, the energy Stokes — who has won three WNBA titles previously with Las Vegas — showed from the tip was a huge part of putting the Valkyries one win away from a title.
What the win means for Golden State: The Valkyries would love to wrap this up in six games, even though that would mean clinching the franchise’s first championship on the road and in the morning in the Bay Area since Thursday’s game was moved to 12:30 p.m. ET to allow it to be played at State Farm Arena.
Golden State is a team that doesn’t back down from any challenge, and the Valkyries showed that with how well they have played since going down 2-1 in this series. They reasserted their defensive identity the last two games, and that has changed the tone of the Finals.
The Valkyries also have the benefit of knowing that if things don’t go their way Thursday, they can come home to Ballhalla for Game 7 on Halloween.
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What are the keys to Game 6? This has been consistent so far in this series: As good as Atlanta’s defense is, Golden State’s is better. In the three games when both teams have been held below 70 points, the Valkyries have prevailed. Now they need to do that once again to claim the championship.
The Dream’s 55 points Monday were their lowest total this season. The Valkyries are the only team this year to hold an opponent under 50 — the Mystics scored just 49 points against them on July 6 — and every time you think Golden State has played its most smothering defensive game, the Valkyries top it.
For the Dream to stay alive, they have to have the kind of performance they saw from Reese in Games 2 (30 points) and 3 (21 points). Her combined 15 points in Games 4 and 5 is just not enough for Atlanta.
The Dream outrebounded the Valkyries 44-33 on Monday, but Atlanta’s abysmal shooting (19-of-65, 29.2%) made the rebounding margin unimportant. But if the Dream can find their offensive rhythm again in Game 6, that board work might mean something.
