WNBA Finals Games 3 and 4 move to State Farm Arena in Atlanta to accommodate more fans

After the league moved one up a day and altered tipoff of the other to avoid conflicts at the venue, the Atlanta Dream will host the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3 and Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at State Farm.

What happened

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will now be Wednesday, Oct. 21. Tipoff for Game 4 on Saturday, Oct. 24 will be 1 p.m. Eastern, 2 1/2 hours before the previously scheduled start time. The series begins Saturday in California.

"I put quite a bit of pressure on the commissioner of the NBA and the WNBA. I felt, look, it's not really regarding us, it's concerning the league, " Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob noted Tuesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "The look would not be too good to have Ballhalla and 18, 000 fans here and 3, 500 over there. I think it's significant for the league to play these games in the finals, a great championship between two highly good teams, in front of the same kind of crowd in both places."

The bottom line

In short, WNBA Finals Games 3 and 4 move to State Farm Arena in is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.