Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese did not have the best scoring night as her team fell 95-91 to the Indiana Fever, and a series of missed baskets prompted a reaction from Fever star Caitlin Clark. As Clark and Reese once again found themselves at the center of a thrilling basketball showdown, the cameras captured Clark’s face as she saw Reese miss an important rebound. As the Atlanta Dream fell to the Indiana Fever, the two stars’ reactions were immediately noticed by fans.
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With the score tied 81-81 in the final seconds of regulation on August 16, the Dream had a prime opportunity to grab a win to jump past Indiana in the standings, but things completely fell apart. Atlanta saw Rhyne Howard miss a 25-foot lead-taking three, but Reese secured the board before putting up another miss. After both Reese and Howard faced similar fates, missing shots, Dream forward Naz Hillmon pulled down an offensive rebound off Reese’s miss, but missed the final of the Dream’s three attempts to take the win.
Clark, who saw the final possession up close, couldn’t contain her emotions as both Howard and Reese missed, as she was seen smiling and laughing on the official ESPN broadcast following the end of regulation, as the Dream were disappointed in their misses. The footage went viral quickly, with one clip from @BrickCenter_ on X amassing over 1.9 million views within a few hours.
The other set of reactions came from Reese and Howard. When they faced each other immediately after the series of misses, Reese grabbed her head in frustration, and Howard then held Angel Reese‘s hands to comfort and console her. Instead of dwelling on the shots, the stars shared the disappointment before preparing for overtime.
Unfortunately for the Dream, overtime saw the Fever completely take over the game. Sophomore big Makayla Timpson led the charge for her team, recording Indiana’s first three buckets to open overtime as part of her career-high 20-point night, with Caitlin Clark taking over the reins late. Clark knocked down two clutch free throws and grabbed a rebound late to seal the game as an Indiana win, maintaining their spot as the #4 seed while rising to 23 wins.
Reese struggled scoring tonight, finishing with an inefficient 15 points on 5-16 shooting, including an 0-6 start, but contributed elsewhere with 14 rebounds and six assists, playing second fiddle to Allisha Gray, who tied her career-best 32 points. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark led her team in scoring with 26 points, also adding nine assists.
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 also two games away from setting a franchise record for wins in a single season. For now, they should be happy that a game as important to the seeding as the one against the Dream turned out to be a win, especially with how hard-fought it was. The Fever rallied from down 10 in the fourth quarter for an OT win, and they now look forward to heading up north to face the Toronto Tempo on August 18.