The WNBA Finals head to Game 6 on Thursday at State Farm Arena, and a scheduling conflict may force the victory celebration to move to the practice court.
The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream on Monday night, taking a 3-2 lead. If the Valkyries win Thursday night’s game, they’ll be crowned champions, but the victory lap may be short-lived because of a scheduling conflict, per The Athletic.
“An Atlanta Hawks game against the Cleveland Cavaliers is scheduled to tip off in State Farm Arena at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, an hour before Game 6 of the finals is scheduled,” it reported.
“Games 2 and 3 of the finals were moved to the downtown Atlanta arena to accommodate a larger crowd than the Dream’s usual Gateway Center home can handle. Gateway Center seats 3,500; State Farm Arena can seat 17,000. Atlanta sold out five of six regular-season games at State Farm Arena,” it added.
The Atlanta Dream previously faced a scheduling conflict for Game 3 and Game 4. Sources said the Hawks could reschedule the game.
“One option is rescheduling the Hawks-Cavaliers game to Friday, opening up Thursday for the WNBA Finals,” The Athletic added. “The Hawks and Cavs are both slated for games Wednesday and Thursday, meaning they couldn’t play Thursday’s game any earlier to make room for the Dream in the evening. Rescheduling the Cavaliers-Hawks game to Friday would mean both teams would have a Friday-Saturday back-to-back.”
According to the New York Post, there are now concerns “about having enough time for the WNBA champions to celebrate on the court before the arena is prepared for the NBA game, which could push the celebrations to a practice court if the title is won Thursday.”
“There have been several complications with finding another arena, but the Hawks have accommodated the Dream, most recently by moving Thursday’s NBA matchup to 8 p.m.,” it added. “The WNBA squad explored other options, including Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion or Gas South Arena in Duluth, but neither panned out.”