WNBA FINALS: DREAM VS. VALKYRIES

October 19, 2026

Natalie Nakase

Golden State Valkyries

Game 2: Postgame

Atlanta Dream 79, Golden State Valkyries 65

Q. The turnovers, it's the most you guys have had this year obviously. Atlanta is pretty good at forcing those. What do you think happened? Is that something you guys can correct?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yes, it's controllable. It's definitely controllable. I thought they did a great job sprinting back, getting into the gaps, getting into the driving lanes.

Just credit to them their effort, their hustle, their fight. I thought they did an excellent job getting into those lanes and creating those turnovers.

Q. Going off of that, Veronica mentioned that she felt like the Dream outhustled and outworked you, and that's where you guys hang your hat. How disappointing is that so see?

NATALIE NAKASE: That's frustrating, right. That's been part of our identity, is because our identity is defense, we hang our hats on that end. So just kind of, like I said, I need to have some conversations. I need to listen within the next 48 hours to see like how did I not deliver my message about our game plan, our fight, our physicality. Like today we were trying to make sure we were going to give our best fight tonight.

So just unfortunate and definitely going to ask questions.

Q. Veronica had mentioned that during Atlanta's third quarter run one of the biggest differentiating factors was their turnovers. From your vantage point, was it just the turnovers, or as she mentioned, was it the hustle as well?

NATALIE NAKASE: The hustle is the turnovers, because in order for you to get turnovers, they have to kind of outhustle you to create the turnovers, right. So they are trying to -- obviously, cut off our driving lanes, be there in the gaps, right, making us make different decisions than we normally are used to. So just credit to them.

Q. Angel Reese got off to a really quick start. Did you notice a difference in how they deployed her or utilized her compared to Game 1?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yeah, pick-and-roll, pocket pass. They were definitely looking for her for the pick-and-roll, looking for the pocket pass at the same time, just trying to give her her touches around the elbow area, which she likes.

But I thought, again, her rebounding, her fight, it was at a high level tonight.

Q. This is the second straight game where both teams have shot below 34 percent from the field. Wondering why you think it's been such a struggle on both sides for that particular skill?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yeah, what's our identity? What? You guys should know this. Huh? I need you guys -- what's their identity?

Q. But even then, it feels like a pretty low number.

NATALIE NAKASE: Girl, what did I say? (Laughter).

What did I say? I mean, I'm not trying to be, you know, how I'm feeling but we are a defensive-minded team. So we hang our hats on the defensive end. They played harder and they were in the gaps better, yeah.

Q. Kiah said when I asked, she said, just don't foul but obviously, you guys outscored them from the field in the second half but I think they had 24 free throws in the second half. Are there ways defensively that you can maybe shut them down without getting them to the line that much?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yeah, we're going to see like how close these actual fouls were. You know, they do lunge for it at times. We just have to make sure we take a close look, again, utilizing the film. That's what we have to do.

Again we also have to make sure -- we have to play harder than them, No. 1 but we have to play smarter as well.

Q. What do you think of Gabby's performance and how do you think you can get her some easier looks?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yeah, actually I thought her looks were the same as usual. She just missed. That's why, again, if you just miss -- nights are going to happen. I wish I could say she's going to shoot a hundred percent every night. That just isn't the case. That's why again for us we do rely on our defense.

Now can we be a little bit more creative creating turnovers? Mm-hmm. That's something we can definitely game plan for.

Q. Gabby came up limping Game 1, did that have anything to do with her slide in aggressiveness at all?

NATALIE NAKASE: She was fine.

Q. Going to Game 3, you've played in hostile environments. You went to Las Vegas and got the win there. What's it going to take to go on the road and get a win in Game?

NATALIE NAKASE: Rest and recovery right away is going to be important because this turnaround is pretty quick. It's really being disciplined, like I said, how can they get that mental rest, too, what does that look like? You know, sometimes players read or sometimes they do fun games or the plane.

So it's kind of just making sure they are disciplined. They pack what they need to pack. Hopefully they pack quickly and just make sure that they bring everything that they need to feel really rested and recovered once we set foot in Atlanta.

Q. You mentioned Atlanta being a defensive-minded team. What about that defense makes it tough?

NATALIE NAKASE: I thought they started to shift into those driving lanes that we were talking about. So then they were there early, right, trying to create more passes for us. When we are not in the right spots in terms of being able to receive those passes and see the next layer of driving lanes, that's where it got a little bit sticky.

I thought they were, again, outhustling us to get to those spots. We just have to make sure we stay composed. If we can't punch first, stay composed and get back to our staying.

Q. Chris Paul and Armond Hill were here, saw them sitting courtside pregame. How have you leaned on your mentors throughout this process and how have they showed up for you?

NATALIE NAKASE: Yeah, not wanting everything to happen so quickly and so perfectly. You guys know I'm obsessive and basketball is my passion, so I have a lot of fire. And so, patience is what Armond is saying, and I think the biggest thing Chris has been saying is just continue to instill confidence. There's going to be some highs. There's going to be some lows. Be there for the players for their lows.

This is okay. This is what the Finals is about. This is what playoffs is about. It's going to get sticky. It's how do we connected even more after losses to make sure we are on the same game plan in Game 3. So they have really good experience that I'm leaning on.