Women's basketball: perfect spectacle

A lot of records were set again late Saturday afternoon in San Francisco. The all-important game of the WNBA Finals was coming up: Game 7. Atlanta Dream visited the “Ballhalla” of the Golden State Valkyries, the sister team of the Golden State Warriors from the NBA. That would also be the first record to be recorded, as the seventh game in the final playoffs has never been reached before in the WNBA. Or as the commentators say: “the best two words in sports”.

But that may also be because the “best out of 7” game mode for the final round of the best and fastest-growing women's basketball league in the world was only introduced last season, who knows. The Dreams and the Valkyries had nevertheless had a hotly contested final round so far. And probably an unexpectedly long one too.

In any case, the sixth game, in which the Valkyries would have had a chance of winning the title, was scheduled in Atlanta on a Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., despite all the hype. Because the NBA men from the Atlanta Hawks were actually supposed to be playing in the hall in the evening. The 17,000 tickets for the WNBA game were still sold out within two days. Another 1.5 million people watched the live broadcast on TV.

The Atlanta Dream even had to play the regular season in a 3,500-seater hall this year; they will only be able to use the NBA arena permanently next season. Even the league organizers seem to be taken by surprise by the boom.

In the lunchtime game, Atlanta Dream finally equalized the overall score at 3-3 and made the tension perfect. So Game 7, the very last game of the season, two teams that have never won the title are fighting for it. One of them, the San Francisco franchise, also played its first season last year. It is already another record that they are in the final in their second season. Both teams are considered to be the strongest defensively in the league. The setting is designed for even more records. The arena is of course sold out. Just over 18,000 spectators are there, and it's Halloween too, so the show can't get any better.

It is a final game as one could only wish for. And that exemplifies the level and development that the WNBA has undergone in recent years.

Atlanta needs a few minutes on the opposing floor, surrounded by all the bright purple fans from California, to score the first points. From then on it stays close throughout the game. With superstars Angel Reese, Jordin Canada and Allisha Gray, Atlanta Dream catches up and even catches up with the Valkyries, then leads into the third quarter. On the other hand, it takes a whole half for the star of the match to emerge and set further records: Gabby Williams. With just two points in the first half, they almost completely took over after the break. In the third quarter, with 15 points, she even scored more goals than Atlanta as a whole.

In the end, Altlanta Dream is running out of time and Williams and the Golden State Valkyries can no longer be stopped. They become the youngest franchise in WNBA history to win 68 to 63. Another record. And Gabby Williams, with 30 points, is rightly named the game's MVP, the most valuable player. Also a sign of the quality of the WNBA now: a team wins without the big stars like Caitlin Clark or Breanna Stewart. It wouldn't be surprising if more records were set next season.