Dream forward Angel Reese picked up her eighth technical foul in Atlanta's 101-83 loss at home to the Portland Fire on Friday, meaning she will be suspended for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Lynx unless the league rescinds the tech on review.
Reese was called for the technical in the fourth quarter after she got tangled up with Portland guard Carla Leite, who was trying to box out Reese. Players who reach eight technical fouls during the regular season are suspended for one game and fined $1,500.
"I'm sure we'll appeal it," Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. "From my vantage point, it didn't look like something that was tech-worthy, so hopefully, it will be rescinded. But I haven't had the benefit of watching it on film yet."
Reese picked up her seventh technical July 9 against the Seattle Storm.
"She's been really good. She went a long time without getting a technical ... she was doing a great job," Smesko said. "As I said, it looked like maybe a foul; it didn't look like a technical. But to be fair, I haven't looked at it on film yet. But hopefully, this is something that will be rescinded, and we'll have Angel's services for the Minnesota game."
The Dream are 25-14, dropping to fifth place in the WNBA standings behind Indiana, which beat Connecticut 111-91 on Friday to improve to 26-15. The Fever don't have any more games before the FIBA World Cup break that starts Monday. The Dream have Sunday's matchup against the first-place Lynx.
Reese, who tied a WNBA single-season record with her 28th double-double Friday with 16 points and 16 rebounds, is on the U.S. World Cup team.
The Dream were coming off a strong West Coast road trip in which they went 4-0. They were disappointed by how they played against the Fire, who are already eliminated from playoff contention.
"We have the No. 1 team coming in here in 48 hours, so you really have no choice but to move on to the next one," Dream guard Rhyne Howard said.
