WNBA Finals Game 5 live updates, analysis and highlights

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Oct 26, 2026, 07:45 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- The WNBA Finals are back at Ballhalla for Game 5!

With the series knotted at 2-2, the Golden State Valkyries host the Atlanta Dream on Monday at 8 p.m. ET. The Valkyries, who had the best regular-season home record, beat the Dream 67-62 on Saturday in Atlanta, relying on their defense and getting a boost from coach Natalie Nakase's lineup changes, inserting Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes into the starting five.

Angel Reese is averaging 18.1 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in the postseason to lead the Dream.

Both franchises are looking for their first WNBA championship. The Dream have played in three previous Finals but never won a game in the championship series until this season. The Valkyries were an expansion team in 2025 and are playing in their first Finals.

In other Finals news Monday, the league announced that Thursday's Game 6 in Atlanta will be played at 12:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.

ESPN will be courtside for Game 5 and providing live analysis, updates and highlights as one team moves one win away from a WNBA title.

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Info

31 minutes ago

23:44 UTC

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Who wins Game 5??

Golden State Valkyries

Atlanta Dream

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Celeb on the 🥁

Former San Francisco Giants player Hunter Pence, known for his energy on the baseball field, had the honor of banging the Valkyries drum before tonight's game. Safe to say he gave it his all. -- Michael Voepel

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Starting changes for Golden State 🟣

Natalie Nakase went with her same starters as Game 4, by the way. So Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes are in instead of Kayla Thornton and Ceci Zandalasini. -- Alexa Philippou

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View from the inside 🤩

About to get started here at Ballhalla. This is my first game here, can't wait to see what this crowd is all about. -- Alexa Philippou

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Stats to know

🅰️ Angel Reese has three double-doubles in these WNBA Finals. With another, she would have the second most in a single Finals in WNBA history, trailing Sylvia Fowles’ seven (2017).

🅰️ The Dream are 15-0 this season (including playoffs) when Reese makes at least one 3-pointer. She's shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc this postseason, though went 0-for-1 in Game 4.

🅰️ Jordin Canada has had four 10-point, 10-assist games this playoffs, tied for the most such games in a single postseason in WNBA history with Alyssa Thomas (2023 & 2025) and Courtney Vandersloot (2021). She has five such career games and is one shy of tying Sue Bird for third in WNBA postseason history (Thomas 14, Vandersloot 7)

🟣 Kiah Stokes has recorded three blocks in all four games this series, the longest streak in WNBA Finals history. Add in her five straight dating back to the semifinals and she's one game shy of tying the longest streak in WNBA postseason history with Lisa Leslie (2003) and Margo Dydek (2001, 2002).

🟣 The Valkyries were 4-of-25 (16%) from 3 in Game 4. The 2022 Aces and 2001 Sparks are the only teams in WNBA Finals history to win consecutive games while shooting worse than 30% from 3.

All stats courtesy of ESPN Research

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The A's starting 5️⃣

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The Bay's starting 5️⃣

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