ATLANTA — Heading into Game 6 between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries, it seemed like all anyone could talk about was the matinee timing of the potential WNBA Finals clincher. How would Thursday’s 12:30 p.m. ET tipoff affect the players’ body clocks, the fans’ ability to attend the game, or the broadcast viewing audience?
For Angel Reese, the upside was pretty clear. “The sun peeked out a little bit more today,” Reese said. “(It) gave us a little bit of an opportunity to see Game 7.”
Reese has been the bellwether for Atlanta in the finals. When she plays well and exerts her will, the Dream win. When she is stifled or rushed and her impact isn’t felt — well, that’s why this series is going to seven games.
The third-year big, who will finish her first season with Atlanta on Saturday, is the Dream’s emotional engine. Her enthusiasm seeps into her teammates; her confidence reminds them why they’re one of the last two squads standing. After the Game 5 loss that put Atlanta down 3-2, Reese was the one proclaiming, “I would still believe in our team; (I) still believe we can win this.”
But more importantly, Reese is the fulcrum for the team’s success. The Dream need her force on the court: the bone-crushing screens to create space for shooters, the rim runs to collapse the defense, the power drives to the basket. When Reese is passive, it trickles down. When she’s aggressive, that spreads even faster.
In an 80-69 Game 6 victory, Reese did the things that had worked for her earlier in the series, grabbing and going after defensive rebounds without getting the ball to a guard. Not all of those forays led to points for Atlanta, but they increased the overall tempo, which had slowed to a crawl in the previous two games.
She was her usual dominant self on the glass and contributed to an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points for the Dream. She attacked Kiah Stokes more often on drives than in the post, benefiting from Atlanta’s improved spacing.
The Dream also put the ball in Reese’s hands more often to start Game 6, and she finished with six assists, a series-high for her. Golden State’s ball pressure had sped up the Dream in their prior two losses, so Atlanta adjusted. One frequent set stationed Reese in the middle of the floor with a shooter (usually Rhyne Howard or Allisha Gray) in one corner and the other three Atlanta players involved in a weakside action. That let Reese’s playmaking shine. She found Gray on the wing for Atlanta’s first 3 of the game, then Naz Hillmon on the ensuing possession at the top of the key.
For a Dream team that shot 10 of 49 from 3-point range over the previous two contests, all they needed was to see the ball go through the net a couple of times. That opened the floodgates for Jordin Canada, Gray and Howard to hit four 3-pointers in the span of five possessions. Atlanta blew open the game in the first quarter, taking a 17-point lead that wouldn’t drop to single digits until 1:15 remained in the game.
Gray made five 3s to lead Atlanta with 23 points, and Howard added four triples for 21. Both players had their best scoring games of the finals on Thursday.
“We played with a different spacing and pace,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “In truth, it’s how we are supposed to play. In the first half, you saw it. The catch and ready to shoot, the pace of one action leading directly into another action, to getting the ball out and going and putting some pressure on them in transition. It’s just the way that we are capable of playing and the way we’re supposed to play.”
Reese got into the 3-point party herself after lamenting her failure to take any 3s in Game 5. She has shot well from long range during the postseason, making 38.5 percent of her triples on 2.4 attempts per game, but she turned down a couple of open looks amid Atlanta’s overall shooting struggles.
Reese’s shooting may not meaningfully change the way opponents defend the Dream, but her 3s are backbreakers. Atlanta is 16-0 when she makes a 3, and the other Dream players are well aware of that stat. She let it fly Thursday, with her first shot attempt coming from beyond the arc. Reese finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds on 2-of-8 shooting from 3 and 5-of-18 from the floor.
“We tell her she needs to shoot, and we kept drawing up plays so she could shoot the ball,” Howard said postgame.
“It definitely was tough, and always frustrating, especially for 3s, because they keep telling me to shoot and I don’t like when I’m not making the shots,” Reese said. “But my teammates still trust and pass it to me. I’m also really, really grateful to them for always putting confidence into me.”
Even in victory, the shooting efficiency wasn’t there for Reese. She made 30 percent of her shots from inside the arc and committed six turnovers. Still, her shot creation and distribution gave Atlanta the early push it needed to force Game 7, which is set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday in San Francisco.
“It was just a mental mindset of me just being able to go out there and try to lead the team as best I can, no matter how ugly it could be, as long as we came out with the win,” Reese said. “I just wanted to do whatever it took to win.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Atlanta Dream, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA
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