Will Game 6 be Valkyries' breakfast of champions? Here are the key factors

The Golden State Valkyries have shot to clinch the WNBA championship Thursday in Atlanta.

If this team can fend off the Atlanta Dream once more, fans watching on the West Coast may be polishing off their morning cup of coffee and toast by the time Valkyries players are hoisting the trophy.

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Such is the reality of a 12:30 p.m. ET tipoff in Atlanta, the compromise WNBA took to ensure that Game 6 would be played at State Farm Arena in front of 17,000 fans instead of the 3,500 at the Dream's typical home at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. For the Valkyries and their fans in California, that means the most important game of the year will start while the morning grogginess is wearing off.

The strange schedule means less time to rest and recover between Game 5, which the Valkyries won 64-55 on Monday, and neither team will get a shootaround or walk-through.

Thursday's game is do-or-die. The Valkyries have no interest in trying to win a title in a decisive Game 7 on their home court, while the Dream will be fighting for a chance to get back to San Francisco.

"As much as we love Ballhalla, we don't want to come back here," center Kiah Stokes said. "We need to go in with the mentality that we have to win."

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Dream star Angel Reese might have set the tone for Game 6 with her frustrated comments after Game 5. She called out the officiating, saying there was a clear shift when Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead that allowed Golden State to get more physical without getting called for fouls.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to play through the physicality," Reese said. "A lot of us are getting fouled and they're not calling it. Or we're talking to the ref after and they're saying, 'Oh, we'll get you next time.' So it is a little frustrating, especially in the moment of it. … We'll figure it out, we'll just have to continue to push through the physicality and hopefully it goes our way the next game."

With Reese having spoken up - and Dream head coach Karl Smesko backed her up - will the whistle be quicker in Game 6?

After their Game 4 win, Valkyries star Gabby Williams said Golden State's big adjustment was not to wait for the whistle and lean in on the physicality these stakes typically present. Head coach Natalie Nakase echoed that after Reese's comments.

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"It's the Finals. This is it. Both teams really want to win this," Nakase said, asked about the physicality. "These are two defensive-minded teams … they like physicality, so that's part of it. You guys act like I'm shocked, I ain't shocked about this. You have an Atlanta Dream team that's well-coached, that has dogs, same as us. It's part of it."

Statistically, the officiating has heavily favored the Dream throughout this series. They've taken 130 free throws compared to the Valkyries' 78. Trips to the line don't account entirely for the impact no-calls and foul calls can have on the game's flow, but it's been a physical Finals on both sides.

Veronica Burton whacked Allisha Gray in the head on Gray's drive to the basket on Monday - a no-call. Burton had been whacked in the face a handful of times in previous games without a whistle blown, too.

The Valkyries got to this point for their defense, and wide margins for physicality can largely favor that strength. The unit, especially Stokes, has been strong on Reese of late, limiting her to 4-of-20 from the field in Golden State's last two wins.

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Rhyne Howard was the only Dream player to find her shot in Game 5, shooting 7-for-15 with 20 points. Otherwise the entire Atlanta team shot 29.2% from the field on Monday, including an eight-point second quarter. Both teams scored fewer than 25 points by halftime, which had never happened in a WNBA Finals game in its 30-year history.

The Dream are shooting a combined 31.7% from the field and scored fewer than 70 points in each of their three losses in these Finals. They averaged 44.2% from the field and 91.3 points per game in the regular season, the latter third best in the league.

The Dream haven't made any significant adjustments this series other than to get Reese more touches, and one more would be imperative to combat their scoring woes.

After falling behind in the series, Nakase channeled Steve Kerr and the 2014-15 Warriors when she altered the starting lineup to include Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes, replacing the struggling Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini. Charles and Hayes have since given Golden State the pop of energy defensively and scoring that lacked at the start of their two losses.

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The Valkyries rely heavily on their depth, using 11 players in Game 1, but essentially shortened their bench to seven players - Sixth Player of the Year Janelle Salaün didn't play at all in Game 5 - the last two games.

That's meant a heavy minute load for starters amid the physicality, but its given their "empty the tank" mantra a new meaning with a title on the line.

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This article originally published at Will Game 6 be Valkyries' breakfast of champions? Here are the key factors.