Kiah Stokes already is a three-time WNBA champion with the Las Vegas Aces. With two all-defensive second team honors also on her résumé, the league already saw her as one of its elite rim protectors.
But after the Golden State Valkyries walked off with a 64-55 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals and a 3-2 series lead on Monday, it became clear that the Valkyries see her as much more.
The sellout crowd showered her with MVP chants as she walked off the floor. Her teammates were on the bench doing the same.
Stokes smiled graciously but kept her focus on the bigger picture.
“I was just like, man, y’all crazy,” Stokes said. “I appreciate the support, but at the end of the day I just feel like everyone on our team is so important. I just feel like we need everyone. So, I think it’s cool, it made me smile and stuff, but I feel like if you take any person off our team we’re not in this position.”
Stokes finished Game 5 with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots while helping to hold Angel Reese to 7 points on 2-of-8 shooting. Stokes has at least three blocks in six straight games going back to Game 3 of the semifinals against the Aces. Through five Finals games, she’s blocked a record 17 shots.
“A lot of my game isn’t really pretty,” Stokes said. “Do all of the dirty work — rebounds, blocking shots, defense. But that’s just what I know I can bring to the team. So, whatever it takes to win. Like I said, job’s not done. We have one more win.”
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase spent three seasons with Stokes as an assistant coach in Las Vegas. As critical as Stokes’s matchup against Reese has been, Nakase knew the Valkyries’ defensive strategy depended on a team-wide commitment.
“I know Kiah Stokes won’t take full ownership of that matchup,” Nakase said. “But she’s right, it’s team defense, it’s always been team defense. We have not wavered away from that. She is our anchor, though. She is our last communication in the back and she’s dangerous at that rim.”
The heart of Stokes’s game also happens to be the foundation of Golden State’s philosophy. The Valkyries took a 3-2 lead by cutting off virtually every avenue to easy baskets.
The Valkyries held the Dream to just 18 points in the paint in Game 5, Atlanta’s fewest in any game, regular season or playoffs. After Atlanta scored 43 fast-break points in the first three games, the Valkyries held the Dream to 2 each in Games 4 and 5. In Games 1, 3, and 4, Golden State held Atlanta to single-digit second-chance points.
“It’s just a different way that you could win,” Nakase said.
The Valkyries’ three wins have come by an average margin of just 6 points. But Nakase envisioned a team that could take an unconventional path to the title.
“This is how we feel we could win it,” she said. “And more importantly, Kiah Stokes will be our MVP. I heard chants.”
Making it work
The Dream were battling logistics while battling for the title.
After shifting the schedule to avoid conflicts with a Sombr concert and the Atlanta Hawks’ home opener last week, the Dream had to navigate another clash, with the Hawks hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers Thursday at 7 p.m.
The tipoff for Game 6 of the Final was moved to 12:30 p.m., and the Hawks’ game was pushed back to 8.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said he was “excited that they got it figured out.”
But after sellout crowds of 17,099 for Games 3 and 4, he was concerned about the turnout.
“I hope everybody gets to see it somehow,” Smesko said. “I know that for some people it’s not going to be realistic. They have jobs and won’t be able to make it. So, I’m disappointed for that. But I’m really hopeful that as many people can see the game as possible.”
Meanwhile, the early tipoff means Golden State fans will have an early wake-up call.
“Call in sick,” guard Veronica Burton joked. “I recommend it.”
But with her team one win from a title, the tipoff time was irrelevant to Stokes.
“It doesn’t matter what time it is,” she said. “At the end of the day we just need 94 feet, two hoops, and each other. Atlanta’s a great team and we don’t want to give them any life, so as much as we love ‘Ballhalla,’ we don’t want to come back here. So, we need to go in with the mentality that we have to win.”
Officially upset
After the Dream ran away with Games 2 and 3, Reese noticed a shift over two straight losses.
Golden State has gone to extreme lengths to limit paint points and second chances, and Reese questioned how much leeway officials have given the Valkyries.
“There was also a possession where Gabby [Williams of the Valkyries] pulled me on purpose and she was screaming, ‘foul, foul foul,’ and they didn’t call it,” Reese said. “So, that definitely was frustrating, for sure. Her team was saying it, and they’re all screaming foul, but the refs, I don’t know what’s going on, why they can’t hear it.
“I know I have the mismatch, especially when we’re talking about matchups. So, when I do switch on the post and I’m a lot stronger than the opponent and they’re calling an offensive foul, but when I’m getting pushed before that. So, that is frustrating, for sure.
“It definitely shifted when we went up, 2-1. Things shifted and I don’t know what happened. But it definitely took a big turn.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.