The Win Column: All aboard the bandwagon

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever been sitting alone at home, saying to yourself: “Self, I sure wish there was basketball I could watch. But not just any basketball. Basketball where they play defense. And get offensive rebounds. And actually pass the ball. And heck, I don’t know, maybe they even shoot a lot of threes, as a treat?”

You’re in luck!

We’ve got the team just for you — and for a limited time only, it comes with our bonus WNBA Finals package.

DREAMIN’ AND SCHEMIN’

Yeah.

I’ll pass along Michael Cunningham’s Weekend Predictions, mention that college football is headed toward an expanded playoff no one wants, and thank all the Georgia Tech fans who rightly shamed me for my use of the word ‘navy’ on Wednesday.

But otherwise, today’s Win Column is an Atlanta-Dream-in-the-Finals edition.

And why wouldn’t it be?

They’re four wins away from claiming the fourth title in Atlanta’s professional sports era (sorry, Chiefs, your 1968 soccer title is no good here).

They’ve lost exactly two games since the All-Star break.

And they are, frankly, a whole lot of fun to watch.

“When you have a group of people who just want all their team to succeed and not just themselves, and you couple that with a lot of talent, really good things can happen,” Dream general manager Dan Padover said this week.

Good things that include playing for a ring.

The upstart-ish Golden State Valkyries stand in the way, and they’re a heckuva story themselves (similar vibes, very different approach).

More on that, including some fancy charts, momentarily.

But know that San Francisco will be rocking when Game 1 tips off at the Chase Center tomorrow afternoon. And when the series returns to Atlanta next week?

Well …

I popped into Thursday’s Game 3 presale about five minutes after it opened — and found more than 45 THOUSAND people in front of me in the online queue.

It’s a party, y’all.

And it’s not too late to join.

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HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG

The AJC’s Lauren Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) is already on the ground in San Francisco. Follow live updates here — and she’ll have even more backup when action returns to Atlanta next week.

The schedule: State Farm Arena will host Games 3 and 4. As of now, Game 6 would (presumably) take place at the much smaller Gateway Center Arena.

Asterisk = if necessary.

• Game 1: Saturday at Golden State (3:30 p.m., NBC)
• Game 2: Monday at Golden State (8 p.m., USA)
• Game 3: Oct. 21 at Atlanta (8 p.m., USA)
• Game 4: Oct. 24 at Atlanta (1 p.m., NBC)
• Game 5*: Oct. 26 at Golden State (8 p.m., USA)
• Game 6*: Oct. 29 at Atlanta (8 p.m., USA)
• Game 7*: Oct. 31 at Golden State (8 p.m., USA)

Tickets: General sales opened this morning. It may already be too late.

MEET THE DREAM TEAM

Need a Dream primer? Here’s a quick, alphabetical rundown of the key contributors.

DeWanna Bonner: Wily vet added near the end of the regular season. Two-time champ with Phoenix (2009 and 2014). Calming presence who can still hoop, too.

Isobel Borlase: Australian rookie.

Jordin Canada: Do-it-all guard who won titles with Seattle. Back at full-strength after injuries her first couple years in Atlanta … and really stepping up in the playoffs.

• Canada credits faith, resilience for breakthrough playoff run

Allisha Gray: Leading scorer. Wears goggles. Missed semifinals games with a hand injury. Considered day-to-day, but we’re optimistic about it.

Naz Hillmon: Big frontcourt contributor, especially after veteran Brionna Jones injured her leg in August.

Rhyne Howard: Tenacious defender, league-leading pickpocket. Prolific 3-point shooter. Tyler’s personal favorite.

• Side note: Canada finished second in steals per game. Angel Reese (more on her below) finished third. All three of them received All-WNBA defense honors Thursday.

Te-Hina Paopao: Second-round draft pick in 2025. Refers to herself as the team’s “kid sister who doesn’t stop talking.”

Angel Reese: Offseason addition. WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and rebounding machine who added a 3-point shot to her repertoire this season.

And, of course, one of the more famous basketball players on the planet.

SAME ENDS, DIFFERENT MEANS

The Dream have never won the WNBA Finals. They’ve actually never won an NBA Finals game, despite three previous appearances (last time around, in 2013, they had to play in Duluth because of … wait for it ... “Disney on Ice”).

The Valkyries, meanwhile, are in just their second season of existence. They dominated the Dallas Wings and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to get here.

• Golden State’s head coach, Natalie Nakase, previously spent time with the Aces and in the NBA. She won Coach of the Year in 2025 (and, uh, fainted during a recent playoff game).
• Player-wise, the name to know is Gabby Williams. The 5-foot-11 UConn product is Golden State’s leading scorer and has stepped it up even further in the playoffs, averaging almost 23 points per game.
• AJC contributor Micahya Costen has more on the Valkyries here.

But how do they match up?

As we alluded to earlier, the Dream and Valkyries are sort of bizarre-o mirror images of each other.

Atlanta plays unselfish basketball, but sticks largely to its starters; Golden State has more of an all-hands-on-deck arrangement. And although they both play top-of-the-league defense, they do it in very different fashion.

Win Column data friend Rahul Deshpande put it all in pretty pictures, just for us:

See what I mean?

Atlanta forces turnovers (thievery!) and runs the fast break. Golden State’s more into making it really, really hard to get good shots off.

The teams met three times in a brief span during the summer — and Atlanta lost all three matchups.

The betting odds slightly favor Golden State, as well.

Worry not, Reese said this week.

“Playing a team three times in a stretch of what, 10 days, where we didn’t have a lot of time to figure things out,” she said. “It is no excuse for how we played during that time, but we’re a completely different team right now. All of us, even just adding DeWanna (Bonner), as well.”