Down 3-2 after Monday's 64-55 loss at Chase Center, the Atlanta Dream pointed at the officials. "The contact they allow on Angel, compared to everybody else, is just ridiculous," Dream coach Karl Smesko said, according to the San Francisco Standard. Angel Reese said, "A lot of us are getting fouled and they're not calling."
The numbers
- Free throws through five games: Atlanta 130, Golden State 78.
- Fouls called: Valkyries 98, Dream 85.
- Atlanta led in free-throw attempts in every game, including 35-19 in Game 2, 29-17 in Game 3, 31-13 in Game 4 and 14-13 in Game 5.
The Standard concluded the suggestion that Atlanta has been on the wrong side of the whistle is "difficult to reconcile" with the evidence. Valkyries players have described physicality as something to play through rather than complain about.
Stokes' record
Kiah Stokes had three blocks Monday, giving her 17 in the series — a WNBA Finals record, breaking the mark shared by Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles, columnist Tim Kawakami noted. She also hit three 3-pointers for 13 points as fans chanted "M-V-P." "If you take any person off our team, we're not in this position," Stokes said.
Game 6 is Thursday in Atlanta, with the Valkyries one win from a title.