• WNBA finals Game 5: Dream 55-64 Valkyries

• Golden State lead best-of-seven series 3-2

• Valkyries could win title in second WNBA season

Kiah Stokes kept swatting shots on the interior, while Veronica Burton disrupted the Dream with her own quick hands to alter shots.

And that crazed, violet-clad “Ballhalla” home crowd roared at every chance – watching the Golden State Valkyries move one win away from a championship in their second season with a 64-55 victory against Atlanta in Game 5 of the WNBA finals on Monday night.

• Valkyries-Dream Game 6 to tip at 9.30am on west coast

• Game moved to larger State Farm Arena in Atlanta

• Hawks’ NBA game on same day could not be moved

Game 6 of the WNBA finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries will be played at State Farm Arena on Thursday at 12.30pm ET, the league has announced. That means Valkyries fans in California will be watching the game at 9.30am local time.

Dream guard Allisha Gray said it didn’t matter what time the game was played.

• Guard stretchered off court after apparent serious injury

• Team will learn more about status on Monday

Shai-Gilgeous Alexander scored 34 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder stayed undefeated but they lost All-Star guard Jalen Williams to what appeared to be a serious leg injury during their 108-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night.

Oklahoma City won their third straight game to start the season but lost three players to injury, including Williams, who went down hard on a drive to the basket with 1:14 left. The guard’s left leg gave way as he landed and his foot bent at an unnatural angle. The 25-year-old left the court on a stretcher with towels covering his injured leg. He covered his mouth with his hands when he looked down at the injury while Gilgeous-Alexander and players on both teams appeared to be in shock.

The Dream and Valkyries are tied at 2-2 after four absorbing games. Many in America would rather we revisited the national anthem debate

When Tyler Perry leading lady Crystal Renee took center stage at State Farm Arena to sing the national anthem before the Atlanta Dream’s WNBA finals clash with the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday afternoon, a smattering of photographers, game officials and event security took their familiar places around her as the capacity crowd stood for the flag. The teams, as is now customary, spent that time in their locker rooms. As soon as the lights went back up, the teams returned to the floor to resume their shootarounds. Anyone genuinely invested in the finals would have been unfazed by them briefly stepping away – if they remembered it at all after the Valkyries’ 67-62 win tied the series at two games apiece. But for many watching the game, basketball is beside the point.

Seven years ago, Jay-Z declared that the culture had “moved past kneeling” and similar national anthem protests, seemingly sounding the death knell for an era of sports activism that had helped raise awareness of racial disparities as a broader social movement gathered force. The line cemented his partnership with the NFL as the league bowed to political pressure to crack down on anthem protests, with other major US sports eventually following the NFL’s lead. But rightwing media and politicians never got the memo. They’re still making sports a battleground for patriotism, with basketball as the war’s chief casualty.

• New Orleans Pelicans 135-141 Denver Nuggets (OT)

• Nuggets fans showed displeasure at half-time

Nikola Jokić scored eight of his 35 points in overtime and finished with 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and the short-handed Denver Nuggets rallied from 23 points down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 141-135 on Saturday night.

Jokić had his 199th career triple-double in the regular season, second to Russell Westbrook, who retired with 209.

• Trump calls James a ‘TOTAL DISGRACE’ over anthem

• US president demands apology for pregame warm-up

• James helps Sixers erase 29-point deficit against Cavs

Donald Trump lashed out at NBA superstar LeBron James on Thursday for what he called disrespectful behavior during the playing of the national anthem.

Trump posted a video of the basketball legend making apparent warm-up movements while lined up with his Philadelphia 76ers teammates before their season opener against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

• Lendeborg takes issue with appeals for foul calls

• Forward says he had limited exposure to league

Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had an extraordinary NBA debut as he jawed with Luka Dončić and admitted he had largely been exposed to the league through highlights before turning professional.

Lendeborg was given the task of guarding the Los Angeles Lakers star for large parts of Wednesday’s game, which Dončić’s team won 127-105.

• Edwards hits nine threes in 45-point explosion

• Antetokounmpo scores 35 in first game with Heat

• Minnesota rout Miami 131-106 in season opener

Anthony Edwards scored 45 points as he and the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut with the Miami Heat in an emphatic 131-106 season-opening win on Wednesday night.

Edwards became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 40-point games in season openers, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

• James makes winning Sixers debut as Knicks fall

• Gilgeous-Alexander scores 32 as Thunder beat Spurs

• Pistons erase 22-point deficit to stun Celtics

The Philadelphia 76ers sent an opening-night message that they intend to challenge the New York Knicks for the NBA title after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, rallying for a 106-100 victory.

Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points and Brown had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first game since being acquired from Boston. James began his NBA-record 24th season with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Our writers give their verdicts on the new season, which tips off Tuesday. Who will claim the title? And which youngster will make the superstar leap?

Seeing all the fruits borne of an incredible summer of player movement. It feels like three years ago that Giannis Antetokounmpo was traded to the Heat, because since then, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James went to the 76ers, and a ton of other deck chairs were reshuffled. This is the most intriguing NBA opening week in eons. Claire de Lune

The reunion between one of the best players of his generation and the team he helped make an NBA champion is an opportunity to change narratives

When Kawhi Leonard became a Toronto Raptor for the first time in the summer of 2018, he looked shellshocked. “There’s just more questions you have to ask me in order for me to tell you about myself,” he said, introducing himself to an organization and city he reportedly had no interest in joining.

Leonard had fallen out with his former team, the San Antonio Spurs – one of the most respected franchises in professional sports – due to differences in opinion about an injury that had limited him to just nine games in the 2017-18 season. The Los Angeles native had hoped to end up in southern California, but instead the Raptors risked it all by swapping franchise cornerstone DeMar DeRozan for one year of an injured, malcontent Leonard. It worked: Leonard led the Raptors to their maiden championship on the back of a historic playoff run, averaging 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals en route. Leonard won his second finals MVP to go alongside the one he had claimed with the Spurs when he helped them to the title in 2014.

• Sacramento guard to undergo surgery and will miss entire season

• Former No 1 draft pick has been attempting to revive his career

Ben Simmons faces a monumental task to revive his NBA career after another devastating injury setback put his comeback attempt with the Sacramento Kings on hold. The Australian will undergo surgery after scans revealed he tore his right achilles tendon during a live drill at practice, just three days out from Sacramento’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The 30-year-old signed a one-year deal with the Kings in an attempt to revive his career, but will now miss the entire season. It is another massive setback for the three-time All-Star, after five years battling a series of significant injuries and mental health concerns.

As the WNBA finals kick off Saturday in San Francisco, the pro-LGBTQ+ sports fanbase push a message of inclusion in the face of anti-trans attacks

• Sign up for WNBA 30: a free women’s basketball newsletter

At Wilka’s Sports Bar in lower Manhattan, a crowd of mostly LGBTQ+ fans was fired up during a WNBA playoff game between the New York Liberty and the Atlanta Dream. When the Liberty’s Jonquel Jones blocked the Dream’s star forward Angel Reese at the basket, then chest-bumped her – leading teammates to separate them – the bar erupted in cheers. One fan quietly joked: “Now kiss!”

“I love strong women, and I love supporting strong women,” said August, a trans organizer and Liberty fan who asked to go by their first name for privacy reasons.

With the season approaching its climax, we look at the players who have perfected the art of smack talking through the years

Today, even the most casual of WNBA fans have watched some of the league’s biggest stars talking trash on the court. But while the snarling convos look heated, most of the time, they are good-natured, competitive fun.

Still, we wondered, who are the best trash talkers in the game? Which players over the years have turned talking smack into an art form? Let’s explore.