Coming within one game of a championship to watch it slip away is difficult for any team to process. But for Angel Reese, the Atlanta Dream’s Finals Game 7 loss after a hard-fought seven-game series against the Golden State Valkyries carried an even deeper emotional weight. Holding back tears during her post-game conference, the forward delivered a heartfelt message to her teammates following the game.
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“It’s tough, especially with a good group, a great group, that I’ve honestly been a head on it to battle with all year,” she said during the press conference.
“They changed my life, and I’m just so grateful for them. It is tough in the moment, but we’ll be back. I always say delay, not deny, and this is only year three. They got a lot more years left, too. But I’m just really grateful that I got to go to war with this group, and I would do it again, all over again.”
She delivered the message through a trembling voice, clearly holding back tears as she addressed the media on the podium next to teammates Jordin Canada and Allisha Gray. Her reaction caught the eye of WNBA reporter Roberta Rodrigues, who hoped that the “loss will turn into fuel for even more success.”
Reese was not as effective as the team had hoped she would be in an elimination game. She finished with eight points on 3-for-7 shooting, while grabbing 12 rebounds and logging a steal and two blocks. Unfortunately, she also turned the ball over four times, the most of any player in the game.
The Dream was led in scoring by Jordin Canada and Allisha Gray, who scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, but struggled with efficiency. The Dream collectively shot 33% from the field and just 20% from three-point range.
Atlanta took an early lead in the game, going on a 7-0 run in the first quarter before holding Golden State to just 10 points in the second, heading into the halftime break up 30-24. However, everything changed in the third because Gabby Williams took over the game.
Williams completely thwarted the Dream’s efforts, scoring 28 points in the second half while the Dream as a whole scored 33. She finished the game with 30 points, two steals, and four blocks, and was named Finals MVP for her efforts.
This is the fourth time that the Dream have made it to the WNBA Finals, but have fallen short each time. The 2010 WNBA Finals was their very first appearance, which the Dream lost 3-0 to the Seattle Storm. The very next year brought the same result, but this time, they lost to the Minnesota Lynx in a 3-0 series.
The Dream have consistently made it to the playoffs in the previous three seasons, losing in the first round each time. This year, with Angel Reese on the roster, they would’ve hoped to make it all the way, but Gabby Williams and Co. became the one hurdle they couldn’t overcome.
Regardless, though the championship did not arrive in Angel Reese’s third season, she left the series with a historic postseason and having shown her impact on the biggest stage, along with a group she believes can return to the mountaintop. Only time will tell if her prediction of a second Finals will come true.