WNBA Finals Game 6, a potential title-clincher, will be held in the afternoon on Thursday
Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream face a midday Thursday Game 6 after scheduling conflicts with the Hawks forced the WNBA Finals to an odd time.
Game 6 of the WNBA Finals finally has a place to play, as State Farm Arena will be the site for the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries to continue their best-of-seven series.
There is one big problem: the game, a potential clincher for the team that wins Game 5 on Monday night, will be held at 12:30 p.m. ET.
An afternoon game for a league finals series is interesting in and of itself, but for the 2026 WNBA season to potentially end in the afternoon on a weekday is less than ideal.
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The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks are scheduled to host the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8 p.m. ET now, agreeing to move their start time one hour from its originally-scheduled 7 p.m. tip-off that night in the second half of a back-to-back at State Farm Arena.
That’s what caused the scheduling snafu, with Game 6 of the WNBA Finals originally set for 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.
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So, it appears the WNBA, wanting the much-larger State Farm Arena in terms of capacity (17,000) compared to the Dream's usual Gateway Center Arena home court (3,500), might not have had a choice of where to stage Game 6.
The game will still air on USA Network and stream on Peacock.
The Dream have been drawing sold-out crowds through these Finals, and as a result, the league has had to maneuver to ensure the most seats are filled in larger arenas.
Game 3 was moved from Oct. 22 to Oct. 21 to avoid a concert conflict. Meanwhile, Game 4 was pushed to an afternoon tip-off, though it was this past Saturday to accommodate the Hawks’ home opener against the Houston Rockets that night.
A weekend can be justified, but for a weekday to be an afternoon tip-off is mind-boggling even given the circumstances.
The Athletic reported the Hawks could’ve moved their Thursday night game to Friday, however that would have created a Friday-Saturday back-to-back for both NBA teams. And the rescheduled matchup would’ve been on opening night of NBA Cup group play.
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Then, there was the option of the Dream playing at their normal home in College Park, though thousands of fans wouldn’t be able to enter the arena due to the lack of seats.
There were other Georgia-area arenas to think about, though, including Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion and the Georgia State Convention Center, per CBS Sports.
Angel Reese, who’s enjoyed a strong Finals performance thus far, did state her wish to stay at State Farm Arena if it could work.
"The fan support here has been amazing, and we appreciate the love and support," she said after the Game 4 loss to the Valkyries, which tied the series at two.
Reese might not have thought it would be an afternoon tip-off on Thursday, but she’ll be focused on Game 5 in San Francisco on Monday night before she, and the rest of the Dream, can worry about heading home.