2026 WNBA playoffs bracket: Valkyries beat Dream in Game 1 to win first Finals game in franchise history

The WNBA Finals are officially underway, and the Valkyries kicked things off with a second-half defensive masterclass to beat the Dream 68-64 on Saturday afternoon. The series will remain in San Francisco, where the Valkyries will host the Dream at the Chase Center again in Game 2 on Monday night.

Gabby Williams led the way for Golden State with 26 points, while the Valkyries bench added 20 of their own. Allisha Gray, who was cleared to play despite a hand injury in the semis, led Atlanta with 19 points, while Angel Reese was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 14 points and 12 boards.

The Dream will host Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena, though Game 3 was moved up one day to Oct. 21 to accommodate the Finals game.

The Dream and Valkyries both completed semifinal sweeps, which gave them a week off before the Finals. Atlanta knocked out the New York Liberty, while Golden State ousted the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces.

Neither the Dream nor the Valkyries has ever won a WNBA championship. It's Atlanta's first Finals appearance since 2013. It's the first for the Valkyries, who are just in their second season as a franchise after debuting as an expansion team in 2025.

The Dream knocked the Washington Mystics out in the first round and are a perfect 5-0 in the playoffs. The Valkyries defeated the Dallas Wings in the first round, needing all three games to do so. The Finals, for the second season ever, are a best-of-seven series in 2026.

The 2026 WNBA season has been groundbreaking, on and off the court. It launched on the heels of a contentious and extended labor battle that resulted in a historic raise for the players (the salary cap increased from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million in 2026), and in return, the players raised the bar on a weekly basis. Multiple regular-season records fell this year, from Clark becoming the first player in WNBA history with a 40-point, 10-assist game, to Angel Reese breaking the single-game rebounding record with 26 to Kelsey Mitchell passing A'ja Wilson's single-season points record.