Dream ride energy of sold-out Atlanta crowd to rediscover their swagger, force first Game 7 in WNBA history

The circumstances of a Thursday afternoon game weren’t ideal, but the Dream — and the Atlanta crowd — rose to the occasion

The circumstances of a Thursday afternoon game weren ATLANTA — Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before a do-or-die WNBA Finals Game 6 for the Atlanta Dream, veteran forward DeWanna Bonner insisted that despite the Dream's recent shooting woes, the team would be "crazy to lose confidence" offensively at this point in the WNBA Finals. "We've been taking those shots all series, so it's just a matter of knocking a couple down," Bonner said. "You start feeling good about yourself. The crowd started getting behind it. And then it's like, 'Here we go. Here go ATL basketball." As it turns out, in addition to being the third-leading scorer in WNBA history and the second-leading scorer in WNBA playoff history, the 39-year-old Bonner is also a prophet.

The Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 on Thursday afternoon to force the first Game 7 in WNBA history. There was a lot of outside noise from fans and critics alike heading into Game 6, which was played at 12:30 p.m. ET on Thursday because of an embarrassing web of scheduling conflicts, leadership failures and bureaucratic blame games that left everyone weighing bad options and trying to save face until the time was locked in and tickets went on sale Monday afternoon. But none of that noise held a candle