The Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese entered Friday’s game, to the pride of head coach Karl Smesko, “a long time without getting a technical.” With her seventh T falling on July 9 against the Seattle Storm, it would be 53 days, to be precise. Reese was probably hoping that was how it stayed, for the team would need her defensive prowess in the paint against the first-ranked offensive powerhouse Minnesota Lynx come Sunday. But if only…

Reese was handed her eighth technical foul in the fourth quarter of their Friday matchup against the Portland Fire, which meant an automatic suspension for one game along with a $1,500 fine. While the Dream worried about her absence against the Lynx, those fears lasted just three hours after the game wrapped up.

Karl Smesko brings one home for the team

With 8:45 remaining in regulation in the Dream’s 101-83 loss to the Portland Fire, Reese got tangled up with the Fire’s Carla Leite. While it was a standard boxout for a rebound, the forward was whistled for a technical, sending Leite to the free-throw line to extend her team’s lead to 13 points. As Reese walked off the hardwood, she could be heard saying, “I didn’t do anything.” Smesko didn’t disagree.

“Yeah, I’m sure that we’ll appeal it,” Smesko said in the post-game conference. “From my vantage point, it didn’t look like something that was tech-worthy, so hopefully it’ll be rescinded. But I haven’t had the benefit of watching it on film yet or anything like that. But I think that’s probably something that we’re going to try to get rescinded.”

After the game, that’s exactly what the Dream did, and the league heard Smesko’s request rather quickly, as within three hours of the game ending, he had a positive update:

“News: The technical foul that Angel Reese received tonight has been rescinded, the league confirmed to ESPN. She is back at seven technical fouls on the season. An eighth would lead to an automatic one-game suspension,” ESPN reporter Alexa Philippou posted on X.

If the call was upheld, Reese would’ve had to sit in the team’s final clash of the season with the Lynx. This would’ve been Reese’s second consecutive season in three years of professional basketball with eight or more technical calls. Last year, she served a suspension in Game 41 for the Chicago Sky. The upcoming Lynx game would’ve been the 40th of this season. But there’s a silver lining still.

Only five games remain in this season, albeit the Dream faces an uphill battle. The tally for technicals does not get carried over into the postseason — Reese’s first in the WNBA. The WNBA will enter the FIBA World Cup break, where Reese will also be representing the USA. Certainly, her individual momentum would be a great help to the roster as she broke yet another record in the Dream’s 14th loss of the season.

Angel Reese continues to climb charts in the WNBA

Another day, another game, and another Angel Reese record. Earlier this week, the forward set the WNBA’s single-game and single-season rebounding record with 26 boards in a close 78-71 win over the LA Sparks. For Friday, she had a bigger target in mind.

Entering Friday’s game, things weren’t looking up for Reese as she went scoreless for the entire first thirteen minutes of the night. It was certainly not the best display by the forward who had been on fire lately from the field. But she finished the night with 16 points, going 5 of 14 from the field, and 16 rebounds. And just like that, she was already in the history books.

With her only rebound of the third quarter with 8:20 remaining, she made it to her 28th double-double of the season. She tied Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas for the most double-doubles in a single season with that, and five games remain in the season. Her first with the Dream came in her debut in the 91-90 win over the Lynx, where she totaled 11 points and 14 rebounds. It’s especially worth applauding since Thomas’ record has been around for quite some time.

The six-time All-Star for the Mercury logged her 28 double-doubles in the 2023 season while she was playing with the Connecticut Sun. She also piled up double-digit points and assists 11 times along the way. Six of those outings were triple-doubles, which set her apart from any WNBA player. Thomas has a total of 22 triple-doubles and counting.

While Reese’s biggest power is not dishing assists, she did add it to her gauntlet last year to improve her efficiency on the floor. She finished with six assists on Friday, too. And sniffed her first triple-double in a 124-88 win over the LA Sparks on August 20 when she amassed 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Maybe she would add that stat line to her score soon. But until then, she needs to focus on her team that needs to win. For one, Smesko is not particularly happy with how things turned out on Friday.

Karl Smesko is disappointed as the Dream grabs its 14th loss of the season

The Dream are going into the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season this year. But with the loss, they fell to fifth in the WNBA standings. Smesko had plenty to say about what went wrong for the Dream throughout the game against the Portland Fire, especially after Atlanta allowed Portland to take control of the game early and never found a consistent way back into the contest.

The loss snapped the Dream’s four-game winning streak, so Smesko made it clear that Atlanta “didn’t show up ready to win a basketball game.”

“We made some runs, but we could never really fully catch up. We put ourselves in that position by mentally not being locked in from the very beginning. We should be playing playoff basketball now.”

The Dream are now 25-14 on the season, and although they have already clinched a playoff berth, losing to a team that will not be part of the postseason will be difficult to overlook. Ahead of them, three of the five remaining games are against the likes of the Lynx and the New York Liberty, teams that have championship-winning caliber. Reese did not initially help the most either.

Angel Reese finished the night strong, but she still struggled to find her rhythm. In 38 minutes, she shot just 5-of-14 from the field and committed four turnovers despite finishing with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

But the Dream still has a silver lining. As Angel Reese remains on the squad for the Lynx game, DeWanna Bonner also joins the roster from the Phoenix Mercury. The Dream has a strong squad going into the playoffs. All they have to keep an eye on is how they can keep their performance consistent.