WNBA Finals Go to Game 5 as the Season's Honors Rewrite the Record Book

Game 4: defense forces a decider

The Valkyries defeated the Dream 67-62 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, tying the series at 2-2 and setting up a deciding Game 5 scheduled for Monday, Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. PT. A 67-62 final in a Finals game is a defensive scoreline, and the series now turns on a single game rather than on either team's earlier momentum. m:…4139

Kiah Stokes set a new WNBA record for most blocks in a Finals series, with 14 blocks, and the Valkyries held the Dream to their lowest scoring percentage in a first quarter of the Finals series. Gabby Williams scored a team-high 17 points for the Valkyries, who committed nine turnovers in Game 4. The combination — record rim protection, a stifled Dream first quarter, and a team-high 17 points from Williams — describes a win built on stops rather than on clean offense, since nine turnovers would normally be enough to lose a low-scoring game. Nine turnovers in a 67-point game would normally be costly, which makes the defensive numbers — the blocks record and the stifled first quarter — the explanation for how the Valkyries won anyway. m:…4139

Atlanta's pair makes Dream history

Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard were named to the 2026 All-WNBA Second Team, and they are the first teammates in Atlanta Dream history to earn All-WNBA honors in the same season. They are also the seventh pair of teammates in WNBA history to earn both All-WNBA and All-Defensive honors in the same year, a combination that recognizes two-way impact rather than scoring alone. m:…1587

The individual records behind the honors are striking in different directions. Reese set a new WNBA single-season record with 500 rebounds and another with 32 double-doubles, and she was named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, leading the league in Defensive Win Shares with 3.4. Howard set a new single-season record with 129 made three-pointers and led the league in steals per game with 2.3. One teammate dominated the glass and the defensive ledger; the other led the league from distance and in steals. Reese's defensive ledger adds a further figure: Defensive Player of the Year honors and a league-leading 3.4 Defensive Win Shares. m:…1587

Indiana's backcourt, by the numbers

Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark were named to the 2026 All-WNBA First Team, the first time teammates have made the All-WNBA First Team since 2022. The Fever finished the regular season with a 28-16 record, and the duo's combined line explains much of it: 1,977 points, 233 rebounds, and 454 assists between them. m:…3709

Mitchell set a league record with 28 consecutive 20-point games and scored 20 or more points 35 times this season, averaging nearly 25 points per game and earning Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors in July and August. Clark finished second in the league with 333 total assists, averaging 22.3 points per game, and 96 of her assists went to Mitchell. Clark also recorded a 45-point, 10-assist double-double against Seattle in July. The Finals still have one game to play, but the season's individual story is already settled in the record book: a Finals series tied at 2-2, a blocks record, a rebounding record, a three-point record, and a backcourt whose combined numbers have not been matched by teammates on a First Team since 2022. m:…3709