Sunday brought another chapter in a rivalry that dates back to the 2023 NCAA Championship Game. Angel Reese’s viral “you can’t see me” gesture toward Caitlin Clark that night helped spark a rivalry that has since helped push women’s basketball to new heights. Despite both players repeatedly insisting that there is no real rivalry between them, the latest meeting gave fans plenty to talk about as Clark and the Fever took down Reese and the Atlanta Dream in overtime.

With the score tied 81-81 in the final seconds of regulation on August 16, Atlanta had a golden opportunity to move ahead of Indiana in the standings. But the Dream couldn’t capitalize. Rhyne Howard missed a 25-foot three that would have given Atlanta the lead, only for Angel Reese to secure the offensive rebound. Reese then had a chance to put the Dream ahead herself, but she missed the ensuing layup.

After both Reese and Howard missed their chances, Dream forward Naz Hillmon grabbed the offensive rebound off Reese’s miss, but she too missed, ending Atlanta’s final chance to win the game in regulation.

Clark, who saw the final possession up close, couldn’t contain her emotions, as she was seen smiling and laughing on the official ESPN broadcast following the end of regulation while the Dream were left disappointed by their missed opportunities.

When Howard and Reese came face-to-face after the series of missed opportunities, Reese could only hold her head in disbelief. Howard then reached for Reese’s hands, offering a moment of comfort as the two shared the disappointment of letting the game slip away. But the damage had already been done for Reese.

The footage of Clark smirking quickly went viral, with one clip from @BrickCenter_ on X amassing over 5.6 million views within a few hours and drawing plenty of reactions.

And some of those reactions were far from kind to Reese. Jason Whitlock took aim at the Dream star on X, arguing that the praise surrounding her had gone too far. “Good lord they have gone overboard trying to convince us Angel Reese is great. Stop it,” he wrote, before describing her as a “comedy show.”

Fans also piled on the heat for Reese, with one user on X writing, “Caitlin in the background is killing me, bruh. She can’t believe this is her main opp…. 😭💀” Another fan joined in, saying, “Classic! Man, they really, really hate each other…”

It was a night to forget for Reese, at least on the scoring end. She finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting after an 0-for-6 start, making it a frustrating night offensively. Yet she still managed to impact the game elsewhere, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out six assists for another double-double.

Allisha Gray led the way for the Dream, matching her career-best 32-point performance, but unfortunately for Atlanta, even that wasn’t enough. Once overtime began, the Fever completely took control of the game.

Fever Find an Unexpected Hero in Atlanta

The Atlanta Dream game marked the beginning of a brutal five-game road trip for the Fever, with the Toronto Tempo, Dallas Wings, New York Liberty, and Chicago Sky up next. With the schedule only getting tougher from here, Indiana needed to start the trip on the right foot. And when the moment arrived, it was the youngest player in the starting five who stepped up for Indiana.

Sophomore big Makayla Timpson opened overtime by scoring Indiana’s first three buckets, capping a career-high 20-point night in just her fifth start of the season. While her offensive game stole the spotlight in the Fever’s 95-91 win, it was Timpson’s work on the defensive end that really caught Stephanie White’s attention.

Timpson’s night began with one of the Dream’s biggest threats in Rhyne Howard, as her matchup, but as the game unfolded, Timpson was tasked with guarding Atlanta’s bigs.

Then came the fourth quarter, when the Fever switched to a zone that completely threw the Dream off rhythm. Timpson quickly recognized the openings, closed down space, and helped Indiana shut Atlanta down defensively. That versatility is exactly what had Stephanie White raving about the young forward.

“This was not something we would have thrown at her the first third of the season,” White said, per The Athletic. “She’d be in regular switches, guarding post players. But the more and more comfortable she’s got, the more and more responsibility we’ve given her, and the more and more she stepped up and met those expectations. It allows us to do a lot of different things.”

Aside from Timpson, Clark continued her great scoring run with 26 points and nine assists, while also knocking down two clutch free throws and grabbing a crucial rebound late to seal the win for Indiana.

Clark knows this stretch could go a long way toward defining the Fever’s season and preparing them for the intensity of postseason play.

“This was a big one. This was a really important one for us to get, and that’s kind of the story of this whole road trip — this is the last matchup we have with a lot of these teams, and these teams are really good, and possible teams we’ll see in the playoffs,” she said.

Kelsey Mitchell also extended her streak of scoring at least 20 points to 19 straight games as the Fever rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to secure the overtime win. But it wasn’t just her performance that had the head coach talking!

The Kelsey Mitchell Shoe Drama

For Mitchell, the biggest battle in Atlanta wasn’t against the Dream; it was against her own footwear. The Fever star had already lost her shoe once in the first half while getting back on defense, forcing her to stop and retie it in the middle of the possession.

Then, with the game hanging in the balance late in regulation, Mitchell found herself in the same situation all over again. With a chance to create the go-ahead basket, she planted her foot to change direction, only for her left shoe to come flying off. Indiana had no choice but to call a timeout.

Mitchell’s shoe drama also gave White a reason to laugh after the game. When asked about it, the Fever coach had one simple piece of advice: “Triple-knot the shoes.”

The win was especially important for the Fever, since they maintain a 1.5-game lead on the Dream, but more importantly, have now prevented the Dream from taking the season series, a tiebreaker in case the two teams finish with the same record. This helps them increase their chances of maintaining the #4 seed through the season, which gives them home-court advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs.

The Fever are now just two wins away from setting a new franchise record for most wins in a single season. For now, though, Indiana can be happy to walk away with a crucial win in a hard-fought game against the Dream. Next up, the Fever head north to face the Toronto Tempo on August 18.