The TakeNov 1, 2026·By The Dyme

68-63 in Game 7, 3 Thunder Starters Out and a Teenager's 9 Threes: The Basketball Week in Review, Oct. 26-Nov. 1

Gabby Williams scored 28 after halftime as the Valkyries won Game 7 68-63, Oklahoma City lost three starters, and two 19-year-olds hit the record book in Memphis.

Dyme card with the headline: 68-63 in Game 7, 3 Thunder Starters Out and a Teenager's 9 Threes: The Basketball Week in Review, Oct. 26-Nov. 1

Photo: WNBA.com. Gabby Williams, Golden State Valkyries forward, official WNBA headshot.

Gabby Williams went to halftime of Game 7 on Saturday night with 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting, and Golden State trailed Atlanta 30-24 at Chase Center. She scored 28 after the break. The Valkyries won 68-63, per the WNBA, and a franchise in its second season owns a championship.

Here is what mattered from Monday, Oct. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 1.

The Valkyries won the title in Year 2

Golden State is the fastest expansion team in WNBA history to win a title, per the league, and the third team across the NBA, BAA and WNBA to win the Finals within its first two seasons, per Elias Sports Bureau via ESPN's Alexa Philippou. It took the first Game 7 in Finals history to get there.

Atlanta forced that Game 7 on Thursday. The Dream won Game 6 80-69 behind Allisha Gray's 23 points and 5-of-7 night from three, and they made 13 of 30 threes after going 30 of 121 in the first five games, by our count from the ESPN box scores.

Game 7 turned in the third quarter. Williams scored 15 in it, including three straight threes, per CBS Sports, and Golden State won the frame 21-14 to go up 45-44. She finished with 30. Kiah Stokes, who went scoreless and finished minus-25 in Game 6, put back a miss for a 64-57 lead with 53.8 seconds left.

The Dyme's Game 7 preview built the night around 70 points for Atlanta. The Dream's three wins came at 79, 80 and 97. Their four losses came at 64, 62, 55 and 63. No game landed between 65 and 78, by our count, and Golden State's own scoring stayed between 64 and 71 all series.

In Game 5 the Valkyries turned 17 Dream turnovers into 21 points and won 64-55 while taking four fewer shots. Through six games, the team that won the points-off-turnovers column was 6-0, by our count from ESPN's team totals. The full Game 7 story is in the Dyme's title Take.

Oklahoma City lost three starters between Monday and Friday

On Monday, Thunder president Sam Presti said Jalen Williams has a dislocated left ankle and a fractured fibula and Cason Wallace a torn labrum in his left shoulder, both needing surgery. Both got hurt in Sunday's 108-101 win over the Clippers.

On Friday, the team said Chet Holmgren had a biological treatment for a small tear in his right patellar tendon and is expected back in 8 to 10 weeks. That is 23 to 31 games, by our count from the Thunder schedule. Holmgren, Williams and Wallace had started every game they played this season, per Basketball-Reference.

The Thunder were 4-1 when the Holmgren news came out. On Saturday they lost 119-98 in Houston and fell to 4-2, per ESPN.

Holmgren played 32 games in 2024-25 after a pelvic fracture, and the Thunder went 68-14 and won the NBA Finals, per Basketball-Reference. Last season they went 39-10 in the 49 games Jalen Williams missed, by our count from Basketball-Reference.

The injury list ran through the rest of the league

Oklahoma City had company. Anthony Edwards scored 47 in Cleveland on Monday on a right knee Minnesota had listed as questionable that afternoon. On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Edwards will have an arthroscopic procedure and miss up to two months, which is 27 games on the Wolves' schedule, by our count. He was averaging 33.3 points through four games. The Dyme looked at how Minnesota gets through it.

Jaren Jackson Jr. tore the MCL in his right knee in Memphis on Monday and is out 6 to 8 weeks, per reports from Charania and Tim MacMahon. That window covers 19 to 24 Utah games, by our count, and the Jazz are 1-5, per ESPN.

Tyrese Haliburton was four games into his return from a torn Achilles when a left hamstring strain took him out. Indiana was plus-19 in his 132 minutes and minus-13 in the 60 he sat, by our count from the ESPN box scores.

Then Ja Morant left Thursday's game against Memphis, the team he played seven seasons for, with what Portland called a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks, around Nov. 27, and the Blazers play 15 games before then, by our count.

Two teenagers in Memphis

The same night Morant got hurt, Cameron Boozer had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists in Memphis' 124-103 win in Portland. At 19 years and 103 days, he is the second-youngest player with an NBA triple-double, behind only Josh Giddey at 19 years and 84 days, per NBA.com. Giddey's team lost that night. Boozer's won.

On Saturday, Sacramento rookie Darius Acuff Jr. came into Memphis and made 9 of 14 threes for 38 points, tying the NBA rookie record. At 19 years and 349 days, he is the youngest player to make nine threes in a game, and his 158 points make him the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992-93 to score 150 in his first six games, per NBA.com/Stats.

Memphis won that game 136-105 anyway. The rest of the Kings went 2 of 24 from three, by our count from the ESPN box score, and Sacramento is 0-6. Memphis made 19 of 38 threes, Cam Spencer handed out 13 assists with two guards out, per the AP, and the Grizzlies are 6-0, matching the best start in franchise history, per the AP.

The other end of the age chart showed up Wednesday. Stephen Curry scored 44 in Minnesota on 16-for-16 free throws, his 15th 40-point game since turning 35, which ties LeBron James for the most in NBA history, per Warriors.com.

College programs signed for the long run

Purdue announced Tuesday that Matt Painter's contract now runs through 2030-31, pending trustee approval. He is 501-224 entering his 22nd season, 12 wins from passing Gene Keady's 512 for the school record, and Purdue opens outside the AP Top 25.

On Friday, UConn announced a new six-year contract for Dan Hurley through 2032, under the existing terms. Hurley is 199-75 in eight seasons with three national title games in the last four years. Athletic director David Benedict said in the school's release: "In this chaotic era of college sports, it has never been more important to maintain continuity."

On the women's side, Brooklyn Meyer went back on the South Dakota State roster on Wednesday after a fall on the Jackrabbits' volleyball team. The reigning Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year averaged 22.6 points on .646 shooting last season and returns 258 points short of Macy Miller's program record.

Women's pro basketball kept moving after the Finals, too. Unrivaled set its Season 3 coaches on Wednesday and hired Pokey Chatman, Barb Turner and Jarell Christian for three clubs that went a combined 14-28, by our count.

What to watch this week

Monday brings South Dakota State's home opener against Creighton, the first official night of Meyer's chase for 258. Acuff and the Kings play Dallas on Monday, per NBC Sports, still looking for a first win.

Oklahoma City is 4-2, with Holmgren expected back in 8 to 10 weeks, per the team. In Portland, the countdown runs to Nov. 27.

Sources

Take·Nov 1, 2026

Darius Acuff Jr. Ties the NBA Rookie Record With 9 Threes and Is the First Since Shaq With 150 Points in His First 6 Games

Darius Acuff Jr. made 9 of 14 threes and scored 38 at Memphis, and he is the first since Shaquille O'Neal with 150 points in his first 6 games.

Take·Oct 31, 2026

71 Points Is the Valkyries' Finals High, So Game 7 Rides on Whether Atlanta Gets to 70

Golden State has scored between 64 and 71 in all six Finals games; Atlanta has won every game it reached 70 and lost every game it did not, by our count. Game 7 tips at 8 p.m. ET at Chase Center.