Golden State must address defensive breakdowns after Game 3 loss to Atlanta

ATLANTA (AP) — Golden State has prided itself on its defense all season long. For the second straight WNBA Finals game it failed them.

The Valkyries dropped Game 3 of the championship series 97-71 on Wednesday night and trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. A Golden State team which relies on its league-leading defense was left to explain allowing 97 points while Atlanta shot 49.3% from the field.

“I think this game, they wanted it more than us, and that’s not who we are,” said guard Tiffany Hayes. “That’s not who we’ve been and that not how we got here.”

Golden State had only given up that many points once this season — an overtime loss to Dallas in Game 2 of the first round.

Before Wednesday night's game, Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said she was confident her players would bring better “fight” to Game 3 after the loss to the Dream in Game 2.

"I mean I showed them on film and so they were really like wow like you know it felt like they said that they felt like they’re playing hard but then actually watching it on film they’re like ‘Oh my gosh!’ Like it was really eye-opening.

“And they also love to say, you know, film doesn’t lie. Like they know it, we know it as coaches. And so they took a lot of accountability. So they were just very like, OK, we got it.”

Instead, the Valkyries missed their first eight shots and never led.

Nakase said she her team was “just undisciplined” on defense and questioned if players were struggling with the defensive plan. Nakase said if “something is being a little bit unclear, then that's all of me.”

“We weren’t in our shifts consistently,” Nakase said. “We weren’t communicating. We were kind of just late on certain rotations, which was just uncharacteristic.”

Gabby Williams scored 15 points but made only 5 of 18 shots from the field. Cecilia Zandalasini scored 13 points while making four of six 3-pointers. No other starter scored until the final period, though Hayes had 14 points and Janelle Salaun scored 13 points off the bench.

Williams said if the Valkyries can fix their defense better offense will follow.

“I think sometimes shots don’t fall,” Williams said. “You know, we don’t want to make it about offense. They scored what, 97? ... We have to get back to what works for us. We have to just go back to our defense and not what our offense is going to be.”

Veronica Burton, who averaged 12.2 points while starting every game in the regular season, made only 1 of 7 shots for three points.

“We had a couple lull moments throughout the game," Burton said. "Obviously that third quarter, the comeback, we punched first and then it gets away from us. I think that’s kind of where it happened the most. They go on runs, and we weren’t able to get them back.”

Nakase was smiling as she entered the postgame interview room and said she remains confidence in the Valkyries' chances.

“I feel like this is just a long series,” Nakase said. “We’ve been down before. We’ve come back from games where we’ve been down and so now we just wanna just put it as a longer series. ... So it’s just a longer series if you guys think about it. So we’re resilient. We’ve done it before. They know that.”

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase reacts during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen (2) moves the ball while defended by Atlanta Dream guard Isobel Borlase (20) during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) shoots the ball while defended by Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5)during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada (3) dribbles the ball during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) talks with a referee during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — With fans chanting “We don’t need you!,” the Ottawa Senators defeated Brady Tkachuk and his Florida Panthers 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Tkachuk, who spent eight seasons in Ottawa, including five as captain, was given a hostile reception in his return. He was booed regularly and the crowd aimed derisive chants at him throughout the evening.

A number of fans even threw Tkachuk jerseys on the ice.

The Senators (7-3-0) lost goaltender Linus Ullmark to an apparent injury early in the third period. Ullmark, who allowed one goal on 18 shots, made a pad save on Tkachuk and then needed assistance getting off the ice.

Sam Ersson faced one shot in relief.

Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele and Stephen Halliday scored for Ottawa.

Tkachuk scored the lone goal for the Panthers (5-3-2), who had won three straight. Akira Schmid made 25 saves.

Emotions boiled over in the third. Tkachuk, his brother Matthew and their Panthers teammate Sam Bennett got into it with Senators players in front of Ottawa’s bench. Brady Tkachuk got into a heated exchange with Senators center Dylan Cozens.

Earlier in the period, Bennett fought Ottawa forward Ridly Greig.

Foegele gave the Senators a 4-1 lead by finishing off a great feed from Cozens at the eight-minute mark of the third. Halliday made it 5-1 when he scored off Stutzle's drop pass.

The Senators scored twice in the second. Giroux scored his second goal of the season through traffic from the top of the slot midway through the period.

Pinto made it 3-1 at 17:18.

Despite the hostile environment, Tkachuk seemed unfazed and opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period on a feed from his brother.

Stutzle tied the game just more than four minutes later with a one-timer off a pass from Jake Sanderson.

Panthers: Play at Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Senators: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Florida Panthers Sam Bennett (9) reaches his hand into the face of Ottawa Senators Ridly Greig (71) in a fight during third period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators head athletic therapist Domenic Nicoletta, right, attends to goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

Ottawa Senators' Dylan Cozens (24) looks to clear the puck from in front of Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) as Florida Panthers' Lars Eller (20) looks for the rebound during third period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

Fans throw a former Ottawa Senators Brady Tkachuk jersey onto the ice during an NHL hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers' Brady Tkachuk (8) skates during warmups prior to an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP)