Natalie Nakase Puts Valkyries' Slow Game 6 Start on Herself

The Golden State Valkyries trailed 32-15 after the first quarter Thursday and lost Game 6 of the WNBA Finals 80-69 to the Atlanta Dream at State Farm Arena.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said afterward that the start was on her and that she needs to be clearer with her team.

The series is tied 3-3. Golden State hosts Game 7 on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco, the first Game 7 in Finals history.

Atlanta made 11 of its 15 shots in the opening 10 minutes, including 6 of 8 3-point attempts. Golden State went 5-of-17 and turned it over 4 times, and the Dream scored 8 points off those turnovers.

Nakase said nobody on her side was happy with how it started.

"It just more frustrated me, really," Nakase said. "Just unacceptable of our poor start. So it was just more frustration."

Tip-off was at 12:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 a.m. in the Bay Area. Nakase answered "No" when a reporter raised whether the time was a factor.

Nakase wants to go back to the film and find where her message on pregame preparation was not delivered correctly.

"I can't speak for them, but other than we knew that they were going to be desperate," Nakase explained. "So, like I said, I put that on me of, like, what did I not say? What did I not get to my team of the sense of urgency that we knew they were going to play? They're going to play desperate. They're going to play like their life depends on it. And for us not to match that is disappointing and frustrating. And so, yeah, I need to make sure my team is prepared."

The Valkyries had won Games 4 and 5 after Nakase moved Tiffany Hayes and Kaila Charles into the starting lineup. Both started again Thursday.

Hayes played 10 seasons for Atlanta. Nakase said she wanted to check in on her and the rest of the roster and give them space to rest and recover.

The reflection comes on the plane ride home.

"I'm just trying to explain to you that we're all right now not happy with how it started," Nakase said. "And so I want to go back. Give them their time right now to get their bodies right, get their mental right, get their nutrition right. Let them just sit in it. And then when I get on the plane, I'm just going to have these conversations."

"So I just, I don't have the answers for you guys right now this second," Nakase continued. "But for me, I need clarity. I need some information."

Allisha Gray scored 23 points, and Rhyne Howard had 21. After halftime, the pair went a combined 6-of-11 from the field.

Golden State picked up the ball and pressured Atlanta out of rhythm in the second half. The Dream committed 10 of their 15 turnovers after the break.

"Things that we can control, we controlled it in the second half," Nakase said. "So just picking up the ball, pressuring them, getting them out of rhythm, things that we've been doing all series and moments. So I just got to make sure, again, what was my message? Foggy. If it was foggy, then I need to be very clear."

Golden State blocked 9 shots in Game 5, giving it 37 in the series, the most by any team in a single Finals, according to postgame notes. The Valkyries had 2 blocks Thursday.

Nakase sees Golden State and Atlanta as two defensive teams.

"This is the Finals, right?" Nakase said. "The physicality is supposed to be ramped up. These are win or die. This is do or die. This is it. And so you want to have that type of, again, two defensive teams. You want to have that physicality. You want to have that fight. You want to lay it all out there. So that's what the Finals is about, is just to be empty-the-tank mentality. And we didn't do that tonight."

After Game 5, Nakase said ball pressure has been who the Valkyries are. On Thursday, she said she wants to hear what her players thought she said.

Veronica Burton went 2-of-13 for 8 points and added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Gabby Williams scored 26 points, 22 in the second half.

Everyone on the roster is authentically themselves, according to Nakase.

"V, obviously, is usually our vocal leader," Nakase said. "And then Gabby will always put her two cents in. Everyone kind of always is authentically themselves, which is nice. But no, it starts with me and then V usually echoes."

In their second season, the Valkyries went 32-12 and entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. Every game at Chase Center has been a sellout across both of the franchise's seasons.

Game 7 is set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday on USA Network and Peacock.