Angel Reese was scoreless in the second half of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, and she carried it into Game 2 like a grudge. She scored 30 points with 16 rebounds, and the Atlanta Dream now host Wednesday night’s Game 3 with a chance to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
“I was hungry. I wanted one, and I think we let one slip away,” Reese said after the Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 on Monday, according to the Mercury News. The game gave Atlanta the first Finals win in franchise history after the Dream went winless in three previous trips, 0-10 overall, the Associated Press reported.
Reese scored 15 of her points in each half, shot 10 of 16 from the floor and added three assists and two blocks. She joined Jonquel Jones in 2019 and Breanna Stewart in 2020 as the only players with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a Finals game, and at 24 years and 166 days she is also the youngest with 20 points and 10 rebounds in one, ESPN reported. Allisha Gray added 18 points, and Jordin Canada had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
The game turned on defense. Rhyne Howard set a Finals record with six steals, and Golden State turned the ball over 19 times, a season high, with Atlanta scoring 24 points off those turnovers after getting only eight in Game 1. The Dream also held a 19-0 edge in fast-break points, and Gabby Williams, who scored 26 in the opener, shot 3 for 15 for 14 points, according to Yahoo Sports.
The result also ended a run for the Valkyries. It was their first loss in regulation since a 73-70 defeat at Chicago on Aug. 21, according to the AP. Game 1 had gone the other way, a 68-64 Golden State win in which Reese finished with 14 points, and Eastern Herald’s earlier report examined how Valkyries reserve Amihere slowed Reese.
Game 3 tips off at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday at State Farm Arena and airs on USA Network and CNBC, with a stream on Peacock, according to the Deseret News. The league moved Games 3 and 4 to the Hawks’ building, which seats about 17,000, from the Dream’s regular 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena, WABE reported. Game 4 follows on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. ET.
The Dream arrived in the Finals as the No. 4 seed after sweeping the New York Liberty, their first Finals trip since 2013, while the No. 2 seed Valkyries swept the Las Vegas Aces, ESPN reported. Reese, acquired from the Chicago Sky in an April trade, was voted the league’s Defensive Player of the Year with 46 of 72 votes, NBC Sports reported, and her defense is as central to this series as her scoring.
The question for Game 3 is whether Golden State can protect the ball against the pressure that produced its worst turnover night of the season. If it cannot, the Dream could leave Wednesday one win closer to the franchise’s first title. Game 3 had not been played when this article was prepared.
