The WNBA has a date and time for Game 6 of the Finals. There’s just one small problem: It doesn’t have a place to play it.
The Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries are tied 2-2 in the best-of-seven series after Golden State’s 67-62 victory Saturday. That guarantees a Game 6 in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 29, but the league is once again scrambling to figure out where to host it.
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That’s because the Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to host the Cleveland Cavaliers at State Farm Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday — exactly one hour before the Dream and Valkyries are supposed to tip off.
So unless someone has figured out how to squeeze two professional basketball games onto the same court at the same time, something’s got to give.
The Dream normally play at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, which seats just 3,500 fans. But Atlanta moved its home playoff games to the much larger State Farm Arena, which holds about 17,000.
The move has paid off, with the Dream drawing sellout crowds during the Finals. Getting those games played, though, has required some scheduling gymnastics.
Game 3 was moved from Thursday, Oct. 22, to Wednesday, Oct. 21, to avoid a concert conflict. Game 4 was moved to an earlier afternoon tipoff Saturday to accommodate the Hawks’ home opener against the Houston Rockets that evening.
Unfortunately, Thursday’s conflict isn’t quite so easy to solve.
According to The Athletic, one possibility is moving the Hawks-Cavaliers game to Friday. But that would create a Friday-Saturday back-to-back for both NBA teams and put the rescheduled matchup on the opening night of NBA Cup group play.
Another option would be sending the Dream back to their much smaller regular-season home, although that would mean turning away thousands of potential fans for a championship game.
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Other Atlanta-area venues could also be considered, including Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion and the Georgia State Convocation Center, according to CBS Sports.
Dream star Angel Reese, meanwhile, made it clear she’d prefer to stay at State Farm Arena.
“The fan support here has been amazing, and we appreciate the love and support,” Reese said after Saturday’s loss.
The Dream have already announced plans to move into State Farm Arena full-time beginning with the 2027 season, which should make these scheduling headaches easier to avoid in the future.
But that doesn’t help them this week.
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Game 5 is scheduled for Monday night in San Francisco. Game 6 will be Thursday in Atlanta.
Somewhere in Atlanta.
