Angel Reese scored 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds Monday night at Chase Center, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 in Game 2 to even the best-of-seven WNBA Finals at 1-1.
Golden State won Game 1 68-64 on Saturday. Monday’s result was the first Finals win in Dream history.
Atlanta had lost all 10 of its previous Finals games, a run that included three-game sweeps in 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Reese went 10-of-16 from the field and 9-of-11 at the line over 33:48, with 3 assists and 2 blocks. According to league game notes, she is the youngest player with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a WNBA postseason game.
Jonquel Jones, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart, and A’ja Wilson had done it before her.
Allisha Gray, who had a minor procedure on her hand before the series, scored 18 points with 5 rebounds and made 7 of her 8 free throws.
Jordin Canada finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. Rhyne Howard scored 5 points and set a WNBA Finals record with 6 steals.
Atlanta Took Control Before Halftime
The teams were tied seven times in the first quarter, the last at 16-16 on a DeWanna Bonner free throw with 1:56 left.
Golden State led 21-18 after one on Kaitlyn Chen’s finger roll with 2 seconds to go. Two Cecilia Zandalasini free throws with 4:14 left in the half made it 33-27, the Valkyries’ biggest lead of the night.
The Dream scored the next 10 points, starting with a Reese free throw and a Reese layup on the break. Canada’s driving finger roll and two Isobel Borlase free throws put Atlanta in front 34-33, and Gray’s 3-pointer in transition with 1:31 left made it 37-33.
After Tiffany Hayes tied it with back-to-back layups, Bonner hit a 19-foot pull-up with 2.5 seconds to go, and Atlanta led 39-37 at halftime.
Dream Blew Game Open in Third Quarter
Veronica Burton’s 3-pointer 29 seconds into the second half put Golden State ahead 40-39, and it was the last lead the Valkyries had.
Chen tied it one more time at 42 with a bank shot at the 5:40 mark. Atlanta scored 18 of the quarter’s final 22 points.
With 3.1 seconds left in the quarter, Canada stepped in front of a Hayes pass and pulled up from 32 feet. Her shot went in with 0.8 seconds on the clock for a 60-46 lead.
Atlanta shot 12 free throws in the third and made every one, with Reese hitting 5, Gray 3, and Bonner and Naz Hillmon 2 apiece.
Golden State went 4-of-15 in the period without a trip to the line. Its 8 third-quarter turnovers turned into 12 Atlanta points.
Reese said she let the team down in the second half of Game 1, when she got only two shot attempts.
“I think last game we kind of did that, too,” Reese said. “It was 17-9. We just got back to our identity about who we are and kept our foot on the pedal and we didn’t let up and everybody was just on the same page. We had each other’s back and that’s just Atlanta basketball.”
Two Canada free throws with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter gave Atlanta its biggest lead, 69-48.
Golden State got no closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Turnovers and Transition Defined Game 2
Gabby Williams and Hayes each scored 14 points for the Valkyries. Williams shot 3-of-15 from the field, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
All 7 of her free throws came in the second quarter, and her 4 steals tied the franchise record for a playoff game.
Burton finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Kiah Stokes had 11 rebounds and 4 blocks and did not attempt a shot.
Golden State turned it over 19 times, and Atlanta scored 24 points off those turnovers. The Dream had 19 fast-break points. The Valkyries had none.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said a team has to outhustle its opponent to force turnovers in the first place.
“Yes, it’s controllable,” Nakase said. “It’s definitely controllable. I thought they did a great job sprinting back, getting into the gaps, getting into the driving lanes.”
“Just credit to them their effort, their hustle, their fight,” Nakase continued. “I thought they did an excellent job getting into those lanes and creating those turnovers.”
Atlanta made 30 of its 35 free throws. League notes list that 85.7% as the best free-throw percentage in a Finals game in which a team made at least 30.
Golden State went 16-of-19.
For the second straight game, neither team reached 35% from the field. The Dream shot 21-of-62, 33.9%, and the Valkyries 21-of-61, 34.4%.
Atlanta won the rebounding battle 36-32 and outscored Golden State 17-7 in second-chance points.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said both teams are defending with enough intensity that shooters rush and closeouts come hard.
“We talked about some defensive breakdowns and how to clean those up,” Smesko said. “But we were happy with how the intensity that we were showing guarding and that we were all working together to try and limit their good shots. We felt like we gave up too many second shots. So we just wanted to make sure we were doing our job on the boards.”
“And then offensively is where we thought that we could play better,” Smesko added. “I thought our — even though we didn’t shoot it great again, our shot quality was better. Our pace was better. So I thought the players did a great job taking, from film, taking what we emphasized and then making it a reality on the floor. So all the credit to them.”
Brionna Jones remained inactive for Atlanta with a left leg injury. The Dream announced in September that she would miss the rest of the season.
The crowd of 18,064 was a sellout. Atlanta is 6-1 in the playoffs.
Game 3 is Wednesday, Oct. 21, at State Farm Arena, where the Dream’s Finals home games were moved earlier this month.
Tip-off is 8 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.