It seemed like the Atlanta Dream had found their rhythm in the WNBA Finals when they took a 2-1 lead against the Golden State Valkyries. Now, two straight losses have left them on the brink of elimination, and Angel Reese believes that the change isn’t just limited to how the two teams have been playing. After the Dream’s Game 5 loss, she pointed to what she thought was a shift in officiating.
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“I would definitely say last game for sure,” Reese said in the postgame conference, pointing to when the officiating seemingly changed.
“There was also a possession where Gabby [Williams] pulled me on purpose, and she said she was crying, ‘Foul, foul, foul,’ and they didn’t call it… The refs, I don’t know what’s going on, why they can’t hear it… When I do switch on a post, and I’m a lot stronger than the opponent, I should be able to turn, and they’re calling an offensive foul, but when I was getting pushed before that, so that is frustrating for sure. So yeah, it definitely shifted when we went up 2-1, and things shifted, and I don’t know what happened.”
Reese has struggled in the last two games following a superb start to the series. Over the first three games of the Finals, she averaged 21.7 points per game on 56.4% from the field while grabbing 13.3 rebounds per game in 34.4 minutes on average.
Since then, though, she has dropped to just 7.5 points per game on a horrid 20% from the field, making just four of her 20 shots over that period. Her turnover average has also shot up, going from 2.7 over the first three to 4.5 over the last two games.
Reese scored five of her seven points in the first quarter, being nearly shut out for the rest of the game. Kiah Stokes contained Reese yet again, logging 13 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.
Reese also caught some flak for one sequence when she elbowed Kayla Thornton while driving to the rim, but was not called for a foul.
The Dream has collectively struggled to find an offensive rhythm in their latest loss. In the game, the team shot just 29.2% from the field, being held to their lowest point total of the entire season, 55. Atlanta now needs two wins in a row to win the Finals, and with Game 7 in Chase Center, the work is cut out for Reese and Atlanta.
With Game 6 approaching, Atlanta needs to find answers on both sides of the court, and Reese’s comments have added yet another layer of pressure to the team’s championship hopes.