Allisha Gray Returns to Dream Starting Lineup for WNBA Finals After Hand Injury

Allisha Gray was in the Atlanta Dream's starting lineup for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco. Her start came 13 days after she hurt her left hand in the semifinals.

In Game 1 of the semifinals against the New York Liberty on Oct. 4, she injured herself in the first quarter. She returned in the second with two fingers taped, then went down diving for a loose ball and was ruled out before halftime. She scored 7 points in 11 minutes.

Atlanta held her out of Game 2. Two days later, she went through warmups before Game 3 at Barclays Center and was ruled out about an hour before tip-off. Dream coach Karl Smesko said the decision was made "in the interest of caution."

The Dream won 101-98 on Oct. 7 and 85-83 on Oct. 9 to complete a 3-0 sweep.

The injury is to her left ring finger. Gray shoots left-handed.

She told WSB-TV on Tuesday that she had undergone a minor procedure on the hand, and she was taking jump shots at practice the same day. The Dream listed her as questionable entering Saturday.

Before the game, the tape on the hand was adjusted. Gray said that was only because it had come off. Her release felt no different with it on, she said, and the tape actually helps.

Smesko said before the opener that Gray would go through her workout and that everything was trending in the right direction, the AP reported.

"It's a hand injury, so if she can go I don't expect there to be anything (limiting) other than if she has trouble with it during the game," Smesko said.

Gray was not going to spend a Finals game thinking about the hand.

"I have no concerns, no regrets," Gray said. "If I can't play, I'm [not] going to go out there and punish my team. So either I'm a full go, I'm 100%, and if I'm not, I'm not going to be out there thinking about this hand, because it doesn't help [me or] my team."

Before the injury, Gray scored 22 points in each of Atlanta's first-round wins over the Washington Mystics. She shot 8-of-16 on Sept. 27 and 8-of-18 on Sept. 30 and played 35 minutes in both.

Gray averaged a team-leading 19.0 points on 46.2% shooting, starting all 44 games. Drafted fourth by Dallas in 2017, she won Rookie of the Year and is a four-time All-Star and 2025 All-WNBA First Team selection.

Most of her recovery happened away from practice.

"I did workouts," Gray explained. "So I had workouts, even though I couldn't practice, but I still had cardio workouts. So I still kept my same routine."

Smesko has said the Dream do not win Games 2 or 3 without rookie Isobel Borlase. Jordin Canada and Angel Reese scored 23 points apiece in Game 2, and Reese had 22 points and 9 rebounds in Game 3.

Canada and Rhyne Howard entered the Finals tied for the team's postseason scoring lead at 19.2 points per game.

Atlanta also got encouraging news earlier in the week when Gray showed progress with her injured hand ahead of the Finals.

Atlanta entered the series 5-0 in the playoffs and is in its first Finals since 2013. The franchise is 0-9 all-time in Finals games.

Golden State went 32-12 in the regular season and entered as the No. 2 seed. Atlanta finished 30-14 as the No. 4 seed.

The Valkyries beat the Dallas Wings 2-1 in the first round and swept the Las Vegas Aces to reach the WNBA Finals in the semifinals.

All three regular-season meetings went to Golden State. The Valkyries won 77-66 and 78-75 at Chase Center in late June and 88-83 on July 4.

Saturday's opener was sold out. The Valkyries have sold out every game at Chase Center across their two seasons.

Game 2 is Monday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. ET at Chase Center on USA Network and Peacock. Game 3 moves to State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. ET.