Angel Reese has become a nightmare for Golden State’s defense, bullying them into back-to-back blowouts. On Wednesday, she was bulldozing the Valkyries’ defense and taunting their bench in front of 17,000+ Atlanta fans. All they could do was watch her in utter helplessness. According to WNBA analyst Jordan Robinson, the strain was now visible in the Valkyries’ body language.
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“I knew this series was going to be a defensive battle. I knew it was going to be a grind. But I was not expecting two blowouts by Atlanta, where it looks like it goes back to the mentality part of it.
“Angel Reese and the Dream, they look mentally tough. They look confident. They look sure of themselves, of what they can do as a team, how they can win, and Golden State looks like they’re shaking in their boots,” Robinson said on The Athletic LIVE. “That’s a problem that you’re trying to solve in the Finals, where your season is on the line heading into Game 4 and Game 5.”
The Dream and the Valkyries were two of the best defensive teams coming into the playoffs, with the latter taking the top spot in defensive rating after the season finale. Golden State was offensively inferior to Atlanta, but they were able to find answers with hard work on the other side. However, through the first three games in the Finals, the Valkyries’ offense has found it difficult to survive Atlanta’s pressure.
Jordan Robinson highlights a bigger issue with Golden State after Game 3 blowout loss
The Valkyries played with heart in Game 1. After trailing the game for the most part, they were able to cut the deficit in the last minutes and willed themselves to a 68-64 win. However, since then, it’s been all Atlanta. They responded in Game 2 with an emphatic 79-65 win in “Ballhalla.”
There was an expectation that Golden State would respond, but instead, they faced a complete humiliation. The 26-point loss (97-71), with the opposing team scoring as many points, is not what you expect from the Valkyries. Angel Reese and Co. shot 49% from the field, and 41% from the 3-point line. Well, it does seem like they were playing scared at State Farm Arena in front of a hostile crowd.
“It’s a little bit like looking in the mirror. Is this how you want to go out? Pride. Is this how you want to go out to the swag surf and people eating lemon pepper wings while you’re getting blown out? Heart is something you cannot draw up,” Robinson added.
“It’s time to stick to your guns and keep doing that…You can see the heart in the Atlanta Dream right now. It’s beating strong…It’s the Finals. The coach should not have to go to players, shaking them…This is what you live for: to be at this stage, to be at this level of your career, to work all season long to get to this point, and then they say you’re not playing hard enough.”
It was the Valkyries’ team identity that helped them float through the regular season and the playoffs until they met the Dream for the championship crown. At this point, it has become a battle of wills and which team is being led by a hungrier leader.
Perhaps that’s what the Valkyries have missed so far in this series. They rise as a team, and they fall as one too. They feed off of each other. In Atlanta, it’s Reese’s competitive motor that leads the way.
Angel Reese shoulders leadership with a strong message after the Game 3 win
In the last two games, there have been two different plays where Reese has dribbled across full court for a layup. Again, she has done it against the Valkyries’ defense, and that’s what makes such plays significant.
The Atlanta star led her team to the fourth seed, won a gold medal at the World Cup with Team USA, won Defensive Player of the Year and now she is bullying the Valkyries’ defense. It’s not just Reese’s unmatched motor, but also her fierce leadership that has remained in the background for all these years and is now driving Atlanta.
“When you have a mentality that started with me, where I’m hype all the time and bringing the confidence to everybody, y’all not taking this from us,” Reese told reporters after the Game 3 win. “And in my heart, I’m not letting you take this from us.”
She recorded 21 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in 34 minutes. She shot 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-2 from deep.
Reese and her team know that the job is not done. The 2023 NCAA champion knows what it takes to win a title. Taking foot off the gas isn’t something they can afford now. They are two wins away from the franchise’s first title. But to expect the Valkyries to go out like this in two more games would be foolish. They should expect retaliation in Game 4.
The Dream will host Game 4 on Oct. 24 at State Farm Arena.