Angel Reese’s confidence is overflowing in powerful message after Dream’s Game 3 win appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
ATLANTA – Sometimes, it’s just about who wants it more.
After letting Game 1 slip through their hands, the Atlanta Dream have responded in the best way possible, and it’s started with Angel Reese herself. In Game 2, her relentlessness and determination to will the team to a victory worked. Whatever high she was on from that game carried over to Atlanta, and it once again helped the Dream to a 97-71 win against the Golden State Valkyries to put them up 2-1 in the series.
At this point, it feels like the Dream go when Reese goes, and that’s no problem for her since she sees what it does for them.
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“No matter if my shots are falling, I just want to make sure I bring energy,” Reese said after the game. “I just want to be able to come in every day, pour into everybody, bring the energy, bring the morale, because I think it’s contagious.
“When you have a mentality that, starting for me, I’m hyped all the time, and I bring the confidence to everyone, y’all not taking this from us. And that’s in my heart. I’m not letting you take this from us, and it becomes contagious within the team. They feel that confidence too. That’s kind of been my mindset throughout the entire season, just being able to want it more than anybody else.”
There’s no doubt that the Dream felt it, and it all started in the first quarter. As much as Reese set the tone, she had help from Naz Hillmon, who hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first.
“I think our 3s were huge,” Hillmon said. “Very timely. But I think it also helped to open up our teammates. We’re knocking them down; you can’t continue to help into the paint, bring two to Angel, Rhyne [Howard] or Lish [Gray]. Definitely opened up things that we’ve been working on all year long, and it was nice to see them fall tonight.”
Though the Dream were up as much as 12 points in the second quarter, the Valkyries made their run. Janelle Salaün gave them a boost with 12 points, and they were able to outscore the Dream 25-23 in the quarter. Still, it was the home team that had the momentum and went into halftime with a six-point lead.
The second half was all Dream, and as every minute went by, it felt like the Valkyries were putting themselves into more of a deeper hole.
“We talk a lot about our second-half surge. We want to be the best third-quarter team coming out by halftime, because I think that takes their confidence and puts them away,” Reese said.
Whatever confidence the Valkyries had coming into the second half was taken away, as they only scored 17 and 14 points in the third and fourth quarters. Isobel Borlase came off the bench and gave the Dream some good minutes on both sides of the ball.
“She looks fearless, and I think it’s because she also knows we have her back and we’re pouring into her so much, but she just continues to trust her work. She puts in the work every single day,” Reese said. “She’s continued to step her defense up. You can’t iso her easily because she’s just there, and she’s solid.”
It wasn’t just Borlase, but everyone who touched the court made an impact in the second half.
“I’m really happy with this group,” Reese said. “Everybody contributed from top to bottom, just being able to be there and make shots at the right time. When you can shoot 49%, you win games.”
Reese has been the key factor in the past two games, whether that’s making a shot, getting a stop or hyping up her teammates. At times, she’ll turn her energy to the Valkyries and get into a back-and-forth with them. That’s the definition of wanting it more for Reese, and if Golden State can’t stop match that, it could be a long (or short) series for them.
“Angel shows up in every game,” Hillmon said. “Some people only show up in big games, but she’s consistent with that, and she brings her teammates along. I think that’s exactly what happened today from the beginning of the game. And then we even had a low in the 3rd quarter, and who was there getting a stop in transition? It was Angel.
“We definitely follow suit, but she definitely starts us off.”
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