These WNBA Finals Are Made Of Steal

ATLANTA — The shooting gods may be weeping, but these WNBA Finals are a steal lover’s delight. Jordin Canada, at 5-foot-6, shoots the gap and sneaks behind the unsuspecting. Angel Reese, who can time up a dribble better than anyone, favors the on-ball poke-away to punish players foolish enough to try to cross her over. Against would-be kickouts and outlets, Rhyne Howard makes plays you might see from a defensive back in zone coverage. She’s locked in on the quarterback’s eyes before she jumps the route and picks off the pass. 

Steals have swung the possession game for the Atlanta Dream in these playoffs, and so far have swung series for them, too. They came away with 16 steals to open the first round against the Washington Mystics and followed those up with another 10 in Game 2. Across three games against the veteran New York Liberty in the semifinals, the Dream logged another 26. And after only having five steals to show for their efforts in Game 1 of the Finals, Atlanta’s first loss of the postseason, the Dream seem to have regained their penchant for pilfering on the way to taking a 2-1 series lead. The Golden State Valkyries were on the wrong end of 14 steals in Game 2 and nine in Game 3. “We always say, ‘thieves in the night,’” a smiling Reese told me the day before Game 1. She said her teammate Allisha Gray has another saying: “We’ll steal the drawers off you.”