15 points in Games 4 and 5 combined. That’s less than what Angel Reese scored (21) in Game 3, and nearly as much as (14 points) in Game 1, which was one of her poor performances. That’s how bad the Atlanta Dream star has been since helping her team take a 2-1 lead, leading to a new and changed nickname.

After Game 3, the basketball world couldn’t stop praising the ATL Barbie, and after back-to-back embarrassing performances, the criticism has been proportionate. 

“Brick Barbie in this one,” WNBA broadcaster Robin Lundberg said on his YouTube channel. “She has been terrible since Game 3. She was awesome in Game 2 and Game 3. But she’s been bad in Game 4 and Game 5. And I would say she was even worse perhaps in this game than she was in the last game.”

It was yet another brutal game for Reese, after a poor performance in Game 4. In the 64-55 Game 5 loss, the Defensive Player of the Year scored just 7 points in 33 minutes and converted just 2 of her 8 attempts from the field. Reese led the game with 15 rebounds.

However, according to Lundberg, rebounding had very little impact on the outcome. As the WNBA broadcaster highlighted, the Dream star played without having a good grip on the game. She was called for offensive fouls and didn’t change her execution even when the Valkyries’ defense clearly changed their approach to her. 

“That too-small gesture that she did could come back to haunt her if the Valkyries go on to win this series. That’s part of Reese’s fieriness and all that- but it’s also the kind of thing that can get you me’d into oblivion if you don’t go on to win the series and you come up small the rest of the way. And it’s been two games in a row now,” Lundberg further added. 

That’s something that Reese will have to live with if Atlanta loses the series. After Games 2 and 3, they looked like the clear-cut favorites to win it all. Atlanta won the defensive battle, and Reese continuously bullied them in the paint. The 3x All-Star had earned being cocky after leading her team to consecutive wins. If she doesn’t show up in the next game or two, it may not end well.

The Valkyries have exposed Angel Reese at the biggest stage

With over seven minutes remaining on the game clock, the Valkyries led ‌49-42. The Dream had the ball to make it a two-possession game. From the top of the key, Jordin Canada threw the ball to Angel Reese, who stood just outside the paint. The moment Reese received the ball, four Valkyries converged. The play ended with Reese being called for an offensive foul. 

That play right there was the perfect sample of what the Valkyries have been doing against Reese in the last two games. Rather than playing one-on-one against the Dream star and getting bullied, the Valkyries have exposed and attacked Reese’s weakness. The Valkyries are being physical, contesting every shot from her and throwing multiple defenders to make it difficult for Reese to score. 

The result is glaring. In the last two games, she has averaged 7.5 points while shooting 20.0% from the field. In Game 4, she scored 8 points, shooting just 2-of-12 from the field. On Monday, her performance saw a slight improvement, shooting 2-of-8 for 7 points.

When Reese received the ball on that play, Canada, Rhyne Howard, Naz Hillmon, and Allisha Gray, all of Atlanta’s best shooters, stood wide open outside the 3-point line. One pass and it could have resulted in an easy 3-pointer. Instead, she turned around to score a layup and got called for an offensive foul. 

Cheryl Miller highlighted after Game 4 that the Valkyries had a defense similar to previous games against Reese, but they were being more physical. After the Game 3 loss, Natalie Nakase made a starting lineup change and replaced Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini with veteran Taffany Hayes and Kaila Charles. She has assigned Kiah Stokes to defend Angel Reese. The plan has been working perfectly well for them. 

The Valkyries are not trying to out-shoot the Dream. They are making every shot difficult for the Dream, especially Reese, who has been their offensive engine.