Angel Reese now has a double-double in every game of the WNBA Finals, and the Atlanta Dream lead the Golden State Valkyries 2-1 after a 97-71 blowout at State Farm Arena on Wednesday, October 21. The 24-year-old forward put up 21 points and 12 rebounds in Atlanta, two nights after a 30-point, 16-rebound game in San Francisco that sent the Dream’s record keepers scrambling.
Atlanta is the No. 4 seed, Golden State the No. 2, and neither franchise has ever won a championship. Before this series, the Dream had never won a single Finals game.
From a Game 1 regret to a 30-and-16 answer
The Valkyries took the opener 68-64 at Chase Center on Saturday, October 17, after Atlanta carried a five-point lead into the fourth quarter and then managed only eight points in it. Reese owned that collapse. “I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half,” she said after Game 2.
Her response on Monday, October 19, was the best night of her postseason career. Atlanta won 79-65, Reese finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds, and the Dream’s postgame notes listed what that line meant historically:
- She is the youngest player ever to post at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a playoff game.
- Only six players have reached that 30-and-15 mark in any playoff game, and only three in a Finals game.
- Teammate Rhyne Howard set a new Finals record with six steals in that same win.
Coaches on both benches were blunt about it. “She was fantastic on both ends of the floor; just a superior performance,” said Dream head coach Karl Smesko. Golden State coach Natalie Nakase offered: “Her rebound, her fight, were at a high level tonight.”
Game 3: the trash talk and the numbers behind it
Back in Atlanta, the game was switched to the bigger downtown arena to fit a larger crowd, and Reese played to it. After a tough second-quarter basket, broadcast microphones picked her up shouting “You can’t guard me! You can’t guard me!” as she ran back on defense. The line spread quickly online, and no profanity was involved this time.
The scoreboard backed her up. Tied at 49 in the third quarter, Atlanta ran off eight unanswered points and closed the period on a 12-2 burst. The Dream shot 49.3% from the field, made nine threes and turned 17 Golden State turnovers into 22 points. Howard added 16 points. “Y’all not taking this from us, and that’s in my heart,” Reese said afterward.
Third quarters have been where the series is being decided. Atlanta has outscored Golden State 63-35 in the third across three games, a 28-point edge. Add up the three final scores (64+79+97 for Atlanta, 68+65+71 for Golden State) and the Dream lead the series 240-204, a 36-point aggregate margin, so 28 of those 36 points, roughly 78%, have come in third quarters alone.
The Clark-Reese argument, again
Any Reese headline revives the comparison with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, a rivalry that traces back to the 2023 college title game and Reese’s “you can’t see me” gesture. Her critics point to efficiency. In mid-August, publicly circulated season figures put Reese’s true shooting percentage at 49.7%, against 60.5% for Clark, and placed Reese among the five least efficient players taking more than 10 shots a game. She shot 19.3% from three in the 2026 regular season and rarely attempts them.
Supporters answer with a different set of numbers. Reese won the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year award, led the league with 32 double-doubles, set the single-game rebound record with 26 and broke the single-season rebounding mark, while shooting 45.1% from the field over 43 games. They also argue a guard and a power forward are measured by different jobs, which is why one percentage rarely settles it. Her career record shows a third straight rebounding title.
What comes next
Game 4 tips off in Atlanta on Saturday, October 24, at 1 p.m. ET. The series then returns to San Francisco for Game 5 on Monday, October 26, with Games 6 (October 29, Atlanta) and 7 (October 31, San Francisco) only if needed. Two more wins would give the Dream their first title. “It’s just a start,” Reese said after Game 2. “We have the city behind us.”
Further reading
Image: Zafer, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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