SAN FRANCISCO -- Angel Reese was angry with herself Saturday after the Atlanta Dream saw Game 1 of the WNBA Finals slip away to the Golden State Valkyries and promised a different attitude in Game 2.
"I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half," Reese said after dominating Monday's 79-65 Dream win in Game 2 that evened the series 1-1. "I just wanted to make sure I came out tonight and left my mark. And I think I did that."
That's putting it mildly after a 30-point, 16-rebound performance that helped secure the franchise's first WNBA Finals victory after previously going 0-10 dating back to 2010.
Reese, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, is in her first season with the Dream after being traded from Chicago. Games like this are exactly what the Dream saw in Reese when making that deal and what she envisioned for herself.
Reese had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting in Game 1's 68-64 loss and was especially frustrated by how she lacked her usual aggression in the second half. She vowed after that game that she would be a different player Monday.
Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said he made eye contact with Reese in the locker room before Game 2 and thought, "Oh, I like this look." For the Dream, it was a look they've seen many times this season from Reese.
"I was hungry," she said. "I think we let one slip away [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."
For those viewers who love offense, both teams have been perhaps a little too much "who they are" in this series. That was to be expected. Golden State and Atlanta were the first- and second-ranked defenses by defensive rating in the regular season. They each have shot 34% or worse in both Finals games.
But two things were key for the Dream on Monday. They scored 24 points off 19 Golden State turnovers, and they were 30-of-35 from the foul line to the Valkyries' 16-of-19. After leading 39-37 at halftime, the Dream essentially won the game in the third quarter, outscoring Golden State 21-9 and going 12-of-12 from the line.
"We're going to see how close these fouls were," Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said about reviewing film to prepare for Game 3 on Wednesday in Atlanta. "[The Dream] do lunge forward at times. We've just got to make sure we take a close look. We have to play harder, No. 1, but we have to play smarter as well."
Gabby Williams, who had 26 points in Game 1 for the Valkyries, was limited to 14 on Monday on 3-of-15 shooting. Teammate Tiffany Hayes also had 14 points. Veronica Burton had 11 points but as point guard took responsibility for Golden State's turnovers -- even though she only had 3.
"We were just a little too loose with the ball," 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."
The Valkyries won all three regular-season matchups with the Dream and the first Finals game, so they know what it takes to beat Atlanta. But the version of the Dream that showed up Monday, even if not up to regular-season offensive speed, was in control.
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.
"Angel is such a generational talent, just to see her thrive in the Finals has been really special to watch," said Atlanta point guard Jordin Canada, who had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. "You can just see that she wants it really bad. We feed off her energy."
