Game 6 of WNBA Finals set for State Farm Arena at 12:30 p.m. EDT Thursday

The WNBA has moved Game 6 of the finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries to a 12:30 p.m. tipoff Thursday at the home area of the Atlanta Hawks so that the NBA can keep its previously scheduled primetime contest that day.

The WNBA worked with the NBA to move the game to State Farm Arena, where Games 3 and 4 of the championship series were played.

The Hawks have a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers that night that couldn't be moved to another date or place. The only way they could make it work was to play the early afternoon game. The Hawks game against the Cavaliers was moved back an hour.

“The sellout crowds and extraordinary atmosphere at State Farm Arena for Games 3 and 4 were a tremendous success, and we’re excited to give thousands more fans the opportunity to experience Game 6 with a championship on the line,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday. “We thank the NBA, Dream, Valkyries, Hawks, State Farm Arena and USA Network for the collaboration and flexibility that made this move possible. We look forward to delivering another unforgettable Finals experience in Atlanta.”

Game 5 is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT on Monday night in San Francisco.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase downplayed the difficulty of adjusting to the early tipoff for Game 6.

“What’s amazing is we’re always prepped for anything,” Nakase said. “So we’ve already scheduled. Made it really intentional. Main thing, rest and recover as best we can. We’ve had six games in 10 days during the regular season. So yeah, it’s really not affecting us. It’s just more we can control what we can control and that’s rest and recovery.”

Added Nakase when asked about remaining grounded through the series: “I just think we’re built for this. I think you can throw anything at our team, our organization, and we’re built for it. We like things that are hard for some reason. We love challenges.”

Because the State Farm Arena court will have to be changed for Thursday night’s Hawks game, the floor may have to be cleared quickly even though it could be a celebration for a series clinching win.

“We’re not really thinking about that right now,” Golden State guard Veronica Burton said. “Just focus on this game today and again, control what we can control. So right now it’s just Game 5 mentality.”

By playing Game 6 in State Farm Arena, the Dream can have more than 17,000 fans as opposed to their normal home of Gateway Center Arena, which seats about 3,500. Games 3 and 4 were sold out.

“Super excited that the game will be at State Farm,” Atlanta guard Jordin Canada said. “The crowd has shown up and showed out.”

Dream coach Karl Smesko said the only thing that would change with the early tip was that neither team would have a shootaround.

“I don’t care if we’re playing at 8 a.m., 10 p.m., midnight, we got a championship to win,” Dream guard Allisha Gray said.

It was the third time in the series that the WNBA made accommodations for the Dream to be able to play at the bigger arena. Game 3 was moved up a day to last Wednesday and Saturday’s contest started at 1 p.m. EDT so the Hawks could still host their home opener that night against Houston.

That game was moved back 30 minutes to allow more time for the arena staff to change the building over for the Hawks contest. Now there potentially could be a champion crowned that day so there will be more time between games.

“When we were done (changing the court after Game 4), I texted our CEO and I said ‘Hey, if you need us to do it again, we’re ready to go,'” State Farm Arena chief facilities officer Amanda Mann said.

The NBA and WNBA explored options to keep the game in primetime. Both the Hawks and Cavaliers play Wednesday night, so they couldn't play their game in the earlier time slot Thursday.

Playing the game with the afternoon start time isn't ideal for anybody. It will be tough to sell out the arena and ratings will most likely be lower with the early start. The game will tip at 9:30 a.m. local time in San Francisco.

While the league didn’t know until last Saturday that there would definitely be a Game 6 played in Atlanta, a contingency plan could have been put in place a long time ago by Engelbert and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The eight playoff teams were known in early September, before the women's FIBA World Cup break.

Part of the issue is that unlike the Valkyries, who are controlled by Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, the Dream and Hawks are owned by different groups. Also with NBC and USA Sports broadcasting the games this year, WNBA Finals games are on different nights.

In the past, games wouldn’t be played on a Monday night — like Game 5 will be — because of the NFL contract that ESPN has. They also wouldn’t be played on a Saturday, the day that Games 3 and 7 would be played, because of ESPN’s college football contracts.

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here

Streamers fall from the rafters following the Golden State Valkyries victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 4 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Atlanta Dream, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Atlanta. (Dan Hernandez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The Jordanian air force carried out strikes against groups in Syria in retaliation for Friday’s attack on a Greek Orthodox Church in Karak that killed nine people, Jordanian state media reported Monday.

It said the operation “resulted in the killing and wounding of many members of these terrorist groups and the destruction of a number of their vehicles.” It did not specify who the groups were or the precise location of the strikes.

Syrian state TV said there were reports of civilian casualties following Jordanian airstrikes south of the village of al-Masmiyah in the southern province of Daraa.

Earlier Monday, Jordanian authorities arrested three men for last week's attack, which also wounded more than two dozen people. The arrests followed a dawn shootout, and all three men were wounded, officials said.

The attack struck the Greek Orthodox Church during a funeral in Karak, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of the capital, Amman, on Friday. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.

The attack shocked the nation, and Jordan declared three days of mourning for the victims. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack; the attackers' motive remained unknown.

Later Monday, the Public Security Directorate identified the three arrested men as brothers Hazzah Zaidan Mohammad and Mishal Zaidan Mohammad, and their brother-in-law Ahmad Sami Hussein. All three are Jordanian; they were taken into custody in Karak, south of Amman.

The agency's chief described the gunmen as “takfiri,” a term used for Sunni militants, but said they were not tied to any organized group.

“They only represent themselves,” Maj. Gen. Obaidallah Abd Rabbo Al-Maayta told a news conference. He also said a large cache of munitions was found in the abandoned house where Jordanian forces apprehended the men.

Jordan’s Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said the attack by the three was the result of “a terroristic, extremist way of thinking.”

“If this way of thinking is not resolved, we will see incidents like this again,” he told reporters.

Jordan's King Abdullah II had ordered authorities to respond with “an iron fist” against what he called the outlaws of Islam and anyone attempting to undermine the unity of the Jordanian people.

“We vowed the terrorists would not escape punishment, and no proponent of dark ideologies that divide Jordanians will be tolerated,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Relatives of the victims said the arrests brought them some relief.

“Despite the profound and immense tragedy, what happened today has eased our grief — and the grief of the Jordanian people — not just for us, the families of the martyrs," Khaled al-Borqan, himself a survivor of the attack and a relative of three of the people killed, told Al-Mamlaka.

“Despite the sadness and pain, the news brought us joy,” Fares Halaseh, an uncle of one of the victims and a survivor of the attack, told the TV station.

But the pain remains, he added. "We will not forget this agony for years to come.”

Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Jordanian honor guards carry a flag-draped coffin of on of the victims killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during their funeral procession in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

Armed Jordanian police officers patrol near mourners during the funeral of victims killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

Relatives mourn as they hold a framed portrait of a victim killed in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church during a funeral ceremony in Karak, Jordan, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)