The Golden State Valkyries won Game 5 of the WNBA Finals Monday night after a bitter tug of war with the Atlanta Dream at the Chase Center in San Francisco. The two teams will return to Atlanta to play Game 6 at the State Farm Arena, a historic first for a league that's been learning a thing or two the hard way over the last few years.
Game 6 will be played at 12:30 pm EST on Thursday, which is 9:30 am PST — meaning Valkyries fans will have just arrived at work or will be getting ready for their day at tip-off, and Dream fans will be circling lunchtime. Kids will be at school; most people will be at work. It's likely that the State Farm Arena will still be close to capacity (where there's a will, there's a way), but there's no overlooking the fact that the game is happening midday is unprecedented — in a bad way.
But there's still something to celebrate. The Valkyries and the Dream each marched a unique and difficult path toward these Finals, and both teams have surprised their detractors and rewarded their fans with sweeping wins and plays worth celebrating. There's a lot hinging on these Finals. A win for the Valkyries would mark something absolutely unexpected: an expansion team winning the championship in only their second season of existence. A win for the Dream would solidify something that's been building all season: a team that's made it clear they're among the best.
It's fair to be put out and even offended by the fact that Game 6 will be played midday. But there's a danger in taking that too far; there are plenty of articles out there right now that flat-out dismiss the Gateway Center Arena, home of many more Atlanta Dream games over the years, as a ridiculous location for such a match. And, with a capacity of 3,500, it just might be — but it's also been a raucous and special home for one of the finest teams we've seen to date.
It's also fair to criticize WNBA and even NBA leadership for this one. The schedule for games was available weeks ago, and it's surprising that, apparently, no one seriously considered that the two teams could get this far. It's never happened before, but the W has experienced countless things that have never happened before in this season alone; no one stopped and asked, "Hey, what if...?"
But it doesn't really matter. Barring some kind of change by way of the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 6 is happening bright and early. Fans will still be excited, and both of these teams have a game to win.
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