ATLANTA -- Much has been made about Dream star Angel Reese's will to win during the WNBA Finals, but coach Karl Smesko credited Reese's hard work and in-season improvement as crucial to her breakout performance.
"She very well might be the most improved player from the beginning of the season to right now," Smesko said Thursday.
Behind Reese's brilliance, the Dream took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Finals series against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday and will host Game 4 on Saturday afternoon.
Reese, a three-time WNBA All-Star and recently crowned Defensive Player of the Year, is playing her best basketball of the season when it counts most despite this being her first playoff appearance. Throughout Reese's first season with the Dream following her offseason trade from the Chicago Sky, Smesko has worked with the forward on her outside shot and pointed to her work with assistant coach LaToya Sanders as helping Reese hone her offensive moves and improve her finishing.
Reese shot 45% in the paint in Atlanta's first 21 games -- in which the Dream were 12-9 -- but has converted 51% of such shots in the games since, including the playoffs. The Dream have won 25 of 30 games in that span.
Per GeniusIQ, Reese's qSI -- a stat measuring effective field goal percentage minus the expected effective field goal percentage on a shot -- has jumped from minus-3.6 before the FIBA World Cup break (meaning her effective field goal percentage was 3.6% worse than expected) to 6.0 since then.
Reese also has been making shots from beyond the 3-point arc with much greater frequency. She has made 8-of-17 (47.1%) 3s in the playoffs versus 3-of-25 (12%) pre-All-Star break and 8-of-32 (25%) post-All-Star break.
"She's taken it very seriously," Smesko said. "I give Angel a lot of credit. She was a great player when we traded for her. ... She has been very motivated to become the best basketball player that she can possibly become, and you can see the results of that hard work."
According to ESPN's Dean Oliver, Reese has posted plus-75 total net points since Aug. 17, including the playoffs, second only to five-time MVP A'ja Wilson.
All that has culminated in her brilliant Finals run: Reese has been the top scorer in the series, averaging 21.7 points on 56.4% shooting, 13.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.
"For this to be her first playoffs and see her dominate like this is impressive," teammate DeWanna Bonner said. "I'm excited [about] what happens next, but you always need that on your team. You always need that energy. You always need that dominant force, so it ranks up there pretty high for performances in the playoffs ... even now, I'm at a loss for words."
In Game 3 on Wednesday, Reese became the first WNBA player with a double-double in her first three Finals games; the youngest player in Finals history with three straight double-doubles; and the second player in the Finals with consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound games, joining Wilson.
"No matter if my shots are falling, I just want to bring energy. I just want to be able to come in every day and pour into everybody," Reese said. "Y'all not taking this from us, and that's in my heart. Like, I'm not letting you take this from us. I think [that confidence] becomes contagious within the team. They feel that confidence too. That's been my mindset throughout the entire season, just being able to want it more than everyone else."
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
