Valkyries carry a 3-0 season sweep of the Dream into Saturday's WNBA Finals opener at Chase Center

Golden State has already beaten Atlanta three times this year. Now the two teams meet with a championship on the line.

The best-of-seven WNBA Finals open Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Central at Chase Center in San Francisco. The second-seeded Valkyries have home-court advantage after finishing two games ahead of the fourth-seeded Dream in the regular-season standings. Game 2 is Monday in San Francisco before the series moves to State Farm Arena in Atlanta for Games 3 and 4.

How Golden State won the season series

The teams have not played since July 4. The Valkyries swept the three meetings by winning near the hoop and on the perimeter. They made 37.5 percent of their 3-pointers to Atlanta's 28.1 percent and outscored the Dream 99-54 from beyond the arc.

Gabby Williams was the top scorer in the season series with 58 points. Atlanta stars Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray made just nine of their 38 3-point tries combined. Angel Reese posted a double-double in all three games but Golden State center Kiah Stokes blocked six of her point-blank shots on the way to 12 blocks in the three wins.

Reese says Atlanta has changed

Reese, named the league's Defensive Player of the Year this month, believes the Valkyries will barely recognize the Dream. Atlanta has since added veteran forward DeWanna Bonner, a two-time WNBA champion. The Dream also won nine of their final 10 regular-season games and have not lost in the playoffs.

"We're a completely different team right now," Reese said this week. "We're rolling and piecing things together at the right time."

New faces on the big stage

Atlanta is in the Finals for the first time since 2013, when it was swept by the Minnesota Lynx. The only player from that Dream team on this stage is Tiffany Hayes, who now comes off the bench for Golden State.

The Valkyries are only in their second season. They swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals and have led the league in attendance in both of their seasons at the 18,064-seat arena fans call Ballhalla. Coach Natalie Nakase said she wants the building rocking and plans to use the crowd as a sixth player.