Angel Reese racked up 30 points and 16 rebounds as the Atlanta Dream recorded their first Finals win, beating the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 on Monday night at Chase Center to tie the series.
The Dream had lost 10 straight Finals matches, succumbing in Game 1 on Saturday, 68-64. Seattle and Minnesota swept them in 2010 and 2011 and 2013, respectively.
Alongside the 30 points, Reese added three assists, two blocks, and a steal, going 10-for-16 from the field. The Dream forward is now the youngest in WNBA history, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds at 24 years and 166 days. She is also the third to record 30 points and 15 rebounds in one Finals game.
Reese scored all 14 of her points in the first half in Game 1 and took only three shots in the 26 minutes remaining as Atlanta began trailing.
“I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half,” Reese said. “I wanted to make sure that I came out tonight and left my mark and do what I could to win, and I think I did that tonight.”
Dream coach Karl Smesko said that he fixed his eye on Reese while entering the locker room before the match and encouraged him with, “I like this look.”
“She was fantastic on both ends of the floor, a superior performance,” Smesko said.
In her maiden season with the Dream after the trade in April with the Chicago Sky for the first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028, Reese delivered a memorable performance that turned the series around. Earlier this month, she became the Dream’s first-ever Defensive Player of the Year and followed it with a league record-breaking performance: 521 rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds.
The Dream’s defense matched the mood, holding Golden State to 34.4 percent shooting as the former registered 19 fast-break points. Rhyne Howard recorded a Finals-record six steals, making up for the Valkyries’ errors with 24 points.
The Dream made sure of the lanes against Golden State all game, forcing the Valkyries to make different choices than in Game 1, when they won the turnover battle 12-8.
Atlanta led 39-37 at halftime despite being in foul trouble with two of its stars. Howard had four fouls in the first half, and Reese was playing with three after earning the third midway through the second quarter. At halftime, Reese had 15 points and Howard three.
“We feed off her energy,” Jordin Canada said of Reese. “She was talking to us the whole game, keeping us confident.”
Canada recorded 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, though he believes he could have done better. Allisha Gray added 18 points.
Even in scoring only four out of 16 from the floor in the third quarter, Atlanta managed to create some separation. This was mostly due to fouls and going 12-12 from the free-throw line in the quarter. Their defense also matched the focus by keeping Golden State scoreless, missing 11 of 15 without committing any fouls that sent a Valkyries player to the foul line. Howard and Reese earned no fouls after the previous quarter.
Reese did not shoot for nearly four minutes early in the quarter after Kiah Stokes blocked her first shot attempt in the second half. Tied with the game, she drove to the hoop for a score and made the free throw, starting an 18-4 run to end the quarter with Atlanta leading 60-46. Reese scored nine points in the run and recorded 24 points and 11 rebounds in the first three quarters.
“Her rebound, her fight, were at a high level tonight,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said about Reese.
The Dream did not ease off in the fourth quarter, with fears haunting them from the first game as they went into the last quarter down by five. They scored just 8 points, going 2-for-19 from the floor.
Canada and DeWanna Bonner each sank two free throws in the first minute of the fourth quarter to take a 64-46 lead, and Atlanta never trailed by more than 14 in the remainder of the match.
Tiffany Hayes topped the Golden State side with 14 points and Stokes with 11 rebounds and four blocks. Valkyries reserves outscored Atlanta 33-11 but lost their first home match this season.
The Valkyries are ranked as the No. In their second season as an expansion side, the No. 2 seed Valkyries stormed to the Finals by sweeping the defending champions Las Vegas Aces. The No. 4 Dream swept Washington and New York to reach this stage.
Game 3 is on Wednesday at State Farm Arena, the sold-out arena, with high hopes. It will give Atlanta a chance to take its first lead in the series and be just two wins off the championship.
“It’s just a start,” Reese said. “We have the city behind us. It’s just the first toward who Atlanta is and who Atlanta is going to be the next couple of years.”
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