The WNBA Finals have barely begun, and already, Angel Reese has found herself at the center of another officiating debate. During the Atlanta Dream’s Game 1 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, two consecutive physical plays involving two Valkyries guards drew heavy criticism from a WNBA reporter, who blamed Reese for overly physical play that went unpunished.

“Refs let Angel Reese get away with two blatant fouls, no call,” WNBA reporter Robin Lundberg wrote on X.

He was talking about a play in the second half, when Reese was pushing the ball up on offense. In an attempt to protect the ball from Gabby Williams, Reese spun around, hitting Williams in the face with her elbow. However, inexplicably, there was no foul called on her.

Then, on the very next possession, as Veronica Burton went to throw a layup on Jordin Canada, Reese ran up to her from behind and tried to block the shot. Reese ended up hitting Burton in the face, sending her straight to the floor. Neither of these was called for a foul or even reviewed by the referees.

Reese’s physical play was the defining aspect of her second half. After starting the night strong with an 11-point first quarter, in which she shot 5-for-6, Reese went cold, making no shots through the final three quarters. She instead focused her energy on defense, protecting the rim and using her physical advantages to assert herself on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds, with five coming on the offensive end.

The game itself was a defensive duel, with neither team shooting over 33% from the field, and the two teams logged a collective 27 personal fouls.

The Dream was led by a returning Allisha Gray, who logged 19 points on 5-19 shooting in her first game since Game 1 of the semifinals. She played 11 minutes in that contest due to an injury to her shooting hand, which might have hampered her shooting stroke against the Valkyries.

Unfortunately, Gray and Reese weren’t enough to bring the win to the Dream. Williams led the Valkyries to a 68-64 win by leading her team’s scoring, logging 26 points on a night when none of her teammates scored in double digits.

This was also the Dream’s first loss this postseason, extending their finals losing streak to 10 straight games. The franchise made the finals thrice in the early 2010s, but never won a game.

What made Reese’s incident stand out was that it was not a new controversy. During Atlanta’s semifinals sweep of the New York Liberty, after Rhyne Howard fouled Breanna Stewart, Reese raised her hand preemptively to contest Stewart’s shot, hit her, and sent her to the floor.

Ultimately, after review, the referees determined there was no hostile act on the play, and Reese was let off without punishment. In another sequence during the same game, Reese got into it with Sabrina Ionescu, arguing with her about a hard foul on a Dream player before they had to be separated by teammates. According to Sophie Cunningham, that was another blind spot for the officiating.

“Angel, I appreciate her having her teammate’s back. That just shows that she cares and that she loves her teammates,” Cunningham said. “Here’s my thing: if you’re going to chase someone down the court and get in someone’s ear, that should be a tech. The fact that she didn’t get a tech on that, I think that’s absolutely insane.”

For now, Reese and the Dream will look to bounce back from a close loss in Game 2 at Chase Center on October 19. The back-to-back incidents of physical contact from Reese have renewed scrutiny, and as the biggest games of the WNBA season unfold, there is little room for officiating decisions to escape attention from both fans and reporters.