Reese and Dream rebound with big rout in Game 2

SAN FRANCISCO — Angel Reese believed she let her team down in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

The superstar center redeemed herself with a 30 point, 16 rebound performance as the Atlanta Dream evened the best of seven series with a 79-65 dominating win over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Monday evening at Chase Center.

"I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half," Reese said postgame. "I just wanted to make sure I came out tonight and left my mark. And I think I did that."

Indeed, she did. Reese, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, is in her first season with the Dream after being traded from Chicago was the driving force Atlanta needed to keep from going back to their own barn down 0-2 for the next two games. Reese gave her team their first ever Finals victory in franchise history.

"I was hungry," Reese continued. "I think we let one slip away (on Saturday). You can't do that. We all came together and were pissed. We felt disappointed, we felt embarrassed. I walked off the court not feeling like myself, and I wanted to make sure that this game, I did everything I could do to walk off the court and feel like who I am."

Reese joined Jonquel Jones (for Connecticut in 2019) and Breanna Stewart (for Seattle in 2020) as the only players to score at least 30 points and grab at least 15 rebounds in a WNBA Finals game. Reese, who is 24 years and 166 days old, is also the youngest to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Finals.

It was an even game for most of the first half. Neither team had a lead bigger than three points in the first 20 minutes of the game. Reese led Atlanta with eight points in the first quarter. Kaila Charles came off the bench to lead Golden State with six points on two of three shooting from beyond the arc.

The Valkyries relentless defense had held the Dream to just nine points midway through the second quarter when they had their biggest lead of the game at 33-27 with 4:14 remaining in the first half. Atlanta then went on a 10-0 run and closed out the quarter 12-4 to take a 39-37 halftime lead. The Dream's run was aided by swarming defense forcing the Valks into poor percentage shots as well as turnovers that created fast break points.

In the second half the turnovers and shooting woes continued for Golden State as a combination of unforced errant passes as well as Atlanta being able to jump in the passing lanes allowed the Dream to take over the game in the second half as Reese kept adding to her stats.

"We were just a little too loose with the ball," Valks point guard Veronica Burton said. "It starts with me. I think we had a lot of times where we were hesitant or we weren't on that same page, and that's where it led to turnovers."

Atlanta held Golden State to just nine points in the third quarter as it built up a 60-46 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Valkyries were never able to recover as the Dream controlled all aspects of the game in the final 10 minutes.

Gabby Williams, who was the catalyst for Golden State's Game 1 victory, was quiet for most of the game with just 14 points as her and her teammates never were able to get into a consistent offensive rhythm as the team collectively had 19 turnovers (which Atlanta converted to 24 points) and shot just 34% overall from the floor and 29% from the 3-point line.

"You could tell that they ramped up their defense, so we've just got to stay focused, stay locked in," Golden State center Kiah Stokes said.

While Atlanta didn't shoot the ball any better than Golden State, they won the turnover battle and at the free throw line with 35 free throws to just 19 for the Valkyries. While many of the fouls were questionable at best and downright dubious at worst by the officiating squad that looked to have called fouls on plays where there was hardly any physical contact or plays that looked like block shots, Atlanta took advantage making 30 of the 35 free throws they were gifted.

Overall, it was a frustrating night for Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase. She reiterated after the game how her team needs to get back their identity, their defense that was the best in the league and got them up to this point of the season.

"It's frustrating, that's been part of our identity. Because our identity is defense, we hang our hats on that," Nakase said. "The hustle is the turnovers because in order for you to get turnovers they have to kind of outhustle you to create the turnovers."

Jordin Canada came close to recording a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Allisha Gray stayed consistent with 18 points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point land while going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Tiffany Hayes scored 14 points off of the bench while Burton chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds and two assists for Golden State.

The series switches up to the east coast with Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta as the Dream look to gain the home court advantage as splitting the first two games in San Francisco. Game 3 is Wednesday at 5:00pm from State Farm Arena.