Game 3 between the Atlanta Dream and the New York Liberty heated up as the third quarter saw the Liberty get more physical as their chances of extending the series were dwindling. Before the third quarter ended 68-66 in favor of the Liberty, heavy contact from Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese against Liberty forward Breanna Stewart saw a WNBA journalist post a bold take on X.
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WNBA reporter Miles Elrich took to X to post a statement about Reese’s contact with Stewart.
“No hostile act. Hard contact for sure, but a basketball play IMO. Stewie goes to the line and hits both, giving the Liberty a 64-62 lead.”
His comments came after Breanna Stewart was fouled by Rhyne Howard as she went for a layup. Howard fell on her back under the basket, and Stewie was freed up for the shot. But the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year gave it her best at blocking the shot.
Before Stewart could recover, Angel Reese was seen rushing over to guard her and, as Reese put her hand up preemptively to block the shot, she crashed into Stewart. The Liberty’s veteran floor general went down immediately. The entire sideline crowd at Barclays was up on their feet as they watched their franchise star go down on a rather unnecessary hard contact.
While Isobel Borlase took care of Howard, Reese was seen immediately moving towards Stewart to offer her apologies, but was shoved aside by Leonie Fiebich. Refs and the Liberty team moved to surround Stewart, who was helped back to her feet, as Reese was seen floating around the group, trying to explain herself.
The Liberty was clearly having none of it. And this shouldn’t come as a surprise after the physicality that the second half of the game has already seen. A previous incident with Sabrina Ionescu was still fresh in the memory of the team.
With the score at 31-24 in favor of Atlanta with 5:56 left in the second quarter, Sabrina Ionescu moved forward to provide a screen for teammate Marine Fauthoux, who was being guarded by the Dream’s Isobel Borlase. Ionescu was assessed an offensive foul for the incident, but it was what Angel Reese did that stuck out to everyone watching.
As Sabrina Ionescu walked away after the foul, Reese could be seen rushing over to her and talking to her loudly as she followed Ionescu around. Rhyne Howard eventually stepped in, lightly pushing Ionescu away as she attempted to calm Reese down. The broadcast reveals what Reese had been telling the Liberty guard.
“You can’t do that! You can’t do that!”
As the refs and Jonquel Jones come in to defuse the situation, Ionescu walks off camera. But Reese wasn’t done with her. Even as Ionescu was walking away, Reese got her last few words in, as the Liberty player was seen tagging Breanna Stewart into the game.
The commentator was not pleased with Reese’s behavior at all, as she can be heard saying that the Dream player’s on-court interaction deserved a technical foul.
The Dream has been physical all game, registering eight personal fouls in the first half itself, with three coming from Naz Hillmon. The Liberty, in turn, had only one less, with seven. The second half saw things get more heated, as both teams had a clear goal in mind. The Dream wanted to make it to the finals, while the Liberty simply wanted to extend the series.
The second half saw the Dream commit 14 PFs while the Liberty were right behind, at 13. At the end of the third quarter, the Dream were behind by two, but they made up for it in the fourth. The Dream overcame the deficit to score 19 points in Q4, while the Liberty managed 15. The game ended with a score of 85-83, and the Liberty were swept clean out of playoff contention in front of their own home crowd.
Angel Reese and the Dream will advance to the finals for the first time since their 2013 campaign. They will face the winners of the playoff series between the Golden State Valkyries and the Las Vegas Aces, in a series where the Aces are already down 2-0.