WNBA Finals Game 5: Valkyries vs Dream, Monday 8 PM ET

Updated 02:42 UTC

Golden State has won Game 5. The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 64-55 at Chase Center on Monday night to take a 3-2 lead in the WNBA Finals, and they can win the first championship in franchise history in Game 6 in Atlanta on Thursday. theScore reported that Kiah Stokes and Veronica Burton scored 13 points apiece for Golden State. Atlanta led 14-13 after the first quarter, Golden State led 25-22 at halftime, and the Valkyries won the third quarter 21-18 and the fourth quarter 18-15 to close the game out. USA TODAY reported that the 47 combined points at halftime made it the lowest scoring first half in WNBA Finals history.

The result corrects the preview below: this Finals series is a best of seven, not a best of five, so Monday night did not decide the championship. Game 6 is on Thursday, October 29, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and a Game 7, if needed, would be played at Chase Center on Saturday, October 31.

The WNBA Finals will be decided on Monday night. The Golden State Valkyries host the Atlanta Dream in Game 5 at Chase Center in San Francisco, tipping at 8 p.m. Eastern on USA Network, Peacock and CNBC, with the winner taking the championship. The series is tied 2-2 after Golden State won Game 4 in Atlanta on Saturday, 67-62.

How the series got here

Atlanta won Game 2 at home, 79-65, and then Game 3, 97-71, to take a 2-1 lead. Golden State answered in Game 4 with the strongest defensive half of the series. The Valkyries led 42-26 at halftime, the largest halftime lead of the Finals, after holding Atlanta to 11 points in the first quarter and 15 in the second, the Dream's lowest scoring half of the season. Atlanta committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in that first half.

Gabby Williams led Golden State in Game 4 with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Rhyne Howard scored 19 points with 8 rebounds for Atlanta. The Dream won the second half and cut the margin to five, and outrebounded Golden State 51-42 in front of 17,099 fans at State Farm Arena, but the comeback stopped there. Kiah Stokes set a WNBA Finals record for total blocks in a series during the game.

What decides Game 5

Golden State will try to repeat the pressure that turned Atlanta's stars into passers in the first half of Game 4. The Valkyries won both games in Atlanta after the series arrived there tied at one game each, and now they play the decider at home in the first Finals in the expansion team's history. Atlanta needs the version of itself that won the second half on Saturday, and it needs that version for the full forty minutes. The Dream also need to protect the ball: 18 turnovers in Game 4, against 9 for Golden State, was the clearest gap in the box score.

There is no Game 6. Monday night ends the WNBA season, and one of these teams leaves Chase Center as champion.

Key numbers

• Series: tied 2-2. Game 1 Golden State, Game 2 Atlanta 79-65, Game 3 Atlanta 97-71, Game 4 Golden State 67-62
• Game 5: Monday, October 26, Chase Center, San Francisco, 8 p.m. Eastern, USA Network, Peacock and CNBC
• Game 4 halftime: Golden State 42, Atlanta 26, the largest halftime lead of the series
• Turnovers in Game 4: Atlanta 18, Golden State 9