Reese Leads Dream to 2-1 WNBA Finals Edge

Angel Reese posted 21 points and 12 rebounds Wednesday night as the Atlanta Dream rolled to a 97-71 win over the Golden State Valkyries at State Farm Arena. Atlanta now leads the best-of-seven WNBA Finals 2-1. Reese didn't just fill the box score: she made two key 3-pointers, added three assists and three steals, and became the first player in WNBA history to record a double-double in each of her first three Finals games.

That's a remarkable run for a player still early in her Finals career. Reese also became the youngest player in WNBA Finals history to post more than 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games. She's the only woman to record consecutive double-doubles in her first three Finals appearances. Her 30-point, 16-rebound effort in Game 2 had already put the Dream on the board in the series and earned Atlanta its first Finals victory.

Balanced Attack Carries the Load

Reese wasn't alone. Five Dream players scored in double figures. Rhyne Howard added 16 points and five steals, while Naz Hillmon chipped in 15. Janelle Salaun scored 11 for Golden State, which got 15 points from Gabby Williams and 14 from Tiffany Hayes. Atlanta's depth made the difference when the Valkyries tried to claw back into the game.

Atlanta jumped out early, building a 9-1 lead in the first five minutes. Golden State missed its first eight shots before Aminata Gueye finally scored with 4:39 left in the opening quarter. The Valkyries trimmed the gap to 13-10, but Hillmon hit consecutive 3-pointers, then Reese answered with one of her own. Atlanta led 23-15 after the first quarter and pushed the margin to 37-26 midway through the second.

The first half brought a shooting display from beyond the arc. The teams combined to go 15-for-31, or 48%, from 3-point range, more made threes than in either of the first two games. Atlanta went into halftime ahead 46-40.

Atlanta Pulls Away Late

The Valkyries came out after the break with energy. They scored the first five points of the third quarter and tied the game at 48-48. Atlanta answered with eight straight points, four from Reese, who capped the run with a driving layup after dribbling the length of the court. Hayes brought Golden State within 59-55 on a layup, but Atlanta closed the quarter with a 12-2 surge and led by 14. The Dream outscored Golden State 25-17 in the third. Across the first three games of the series, they have outscored the Valkyries 63-35 in that quarter.

The fourth quarter was mostly a formality. Atlanta led by 17 when Jordin Canada overthrew Reese on a break. Reese saved the possession, flipping the ball over her head to Howard, who drew a foul. The lead eventually grew to 21, and Atlanta held on. Reese exited with 1:36 remaining and cheered her teammates from the bench, grinning and making a pinch gesture after Madina Okot's skyhook.

Tempers flared, too. Reese, identified as the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year, drove and scored on Gueye in the first quarter, then drew a foul. She yelled what appeared to be an expletive toward the Valkyries bench and chest-bumped teammate Allisha Gray. She had also chirped at Gueye in Game 2.

Official Response

After the game, Reese was blunt about what drives her. "We feel good – we're still pissed that we lost the first game. We know how good we are; we know our identity." She added, "We're all happy for sure, but it's going to take more. The job is not finished so we're going to keep going." In a separate interview, she said, "It's a long season and you play against everybody and go through and push through, but when you can do it at the highest level, this is what you live for, this is what the offseason is for."

Atlanta coach Karl Smesko pointed to the second half. "I'm most proud of the second half because the first few possessions were a little sloppy. I was really close to using a timeout. They pulled together on their own and got it worked out, cleaned it up themselves." Howard focused on the home crowd. "Protect home court. Giving our fans a show. We fought for this arena so we had to protect it. It's big." Hayes offered a candid assessment from the other side. "Disappointed in our fight. This game they wanted it more than us. That's not who we are, who we've been and how we got here."

Who Gets to Watch

The game was originally set for Thursday at Gateway Center Arena, the Dream's usual home, which seats 3,500. The league worked with the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena to move Games 3 and 4 to a building that holds more than 17,000. Both games sold out, and the crowd included music figures such as Ludacris. Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom said he planned to attend. The Dream and State Farm Arena offered him a private suite for his protection, but he declined to sit in it and left the arena.

Both franchises are chasing their first WNBA title. Atlanta has lost in three previous Finals trips, most recently in 2013. The Valkyries became the first WNBA expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in their inaugural season last year, and now they’re competing for the championship in their second season. Game 1 drew 2.1 million viewers on NBC, the most ever for a first Finals game. Game 2 on USA Network averaged 1.33 million.

Why This Matters: The series is now a best-of-seven contest with Atlanta holding a 2-1 edge, and Game 4 is set for Saturday, Oct. 24, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, just three days after Wednesday's win. For the Dream, the stakes are a first championship after 13 years since their last trip to the Finals in 2013. For Golden State, a team in its second season, the stakes are proving that expansion franchises can compete for titles right away. Moving Games 3 and 4 to a larger arena also raises a broader question about access: a 3,500-seat home court meant most fans who wanted to see these games in person would have been shut out, and the league's decision to relocate them widened the door. Reese's record-setting run and the record television audience for Game 1 show how much public attention women's professional basketball can draw when games are accessible, widely broadcast, and staged where fans can actually get inside.