On August 16, with the score tied at 81-81, Rhyne Howard had a chance to win the game, but she missed her 3-pointer. Being the elite rebounder that she is, Angel Reese read it early and caught the ball in the air. With Aliyah Boston on her left, Reese had an open off-hand layup. But the Dream star missed it, taking the game into overtime, which the Dream lost. A video later went viral on social media that featured Caitlin Clark laughing at Reese while walking toward the bench.
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Between this Aug. 16 contest and the WNBA semifinals, the Atlanta Dream lost just one contest, but more importantly, the world witnessed a transformed Angel Reese. After the Dream took Finals Game 2 on Monday behind Reese’s historic performance, Robin Lundberg brought up the same Fever-Dream and said that Reese has been “tremendous” since then. But when a fan somehow turned it into Caitlin Clark’s criticism, alluding to her season-finale 2-point performance, Lundberg came in the Fever star’s defense.
“This is simply inaccurate hating since Clark had one of the greatest playoff games of all time in Game 2 vs. the Aces. But I know she never leaves your mind,” Lundberg wrote in response.
After Reese missed the layup, she became the butt of a joke on social media. While Lundberg was not sure if her missed layup and her performance since then were related, it was hard to disagree with him that she has been a total force since then.
In the next game, Reese had a 20-point double-double against A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. She followed it up with 20 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 100% from the field as the Dream recorded a 36-point win over the Sparks. Atlanta traveled to Phoenix in the next game, and Reese upped her game. She had 31 points and 14 rebounds, shooting 66.7% from the field.
However, it would be unfair to say, like that fan suggested, that Clark had been terrible since that 2-point game against the Lynx. After the season-finale against the Lynx, the Fever faced the Las Vegas Aces in the first round. In Game 1, the Fever star recorded 15 points while shooting 35.3% from the field in a loss.
Clark and the Fever responded in Game 2 with an emphatic 99-89 win. Clark posted 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 15 assists while shooting 50% from the field and 45.5% from the 3-point line. In her last game, she recorded 18 points, 4 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. While she shot only 33.3% from the field, you can’t simply ignore her defensive energy.
Yes, the Fever lost the series, and Clark could have played better, but saying that she has been “absolutely terrible” since then is a bad-faith argument.
On Monday, the Dream recorded a dominant 79-65 win over the Valkyries in Game 2 to tie the series 1-1. Angel Reese led all players with 30 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 34 minutes.
“I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half,” Reese told reporters. “I just wanted to make sure I came out tonight and left my mark. And I think I did that. I was hungry; I think we let one slip away [on Saturday]. You can’t do that. We felt disappointed. We felt embarrassed.”
The Dream lost Game 1 after leading the game for about 80% of the time. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year didn’t score a point in the second half after recording 14 points in the first two quarters. The Dream will now host Game 3 in Atlanta, giving them a home-court advantage.