The tension between the Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty is reaching another level as the teams battle for a spot in the WNBA Finals. With their season on the line, the Liberty have little room for error in Friday’s do-or-die Game 3, and the intensity has been evident in every possession. However, after two heated exchanges involving Angel Reese, the Dream star has now triggered a financial punishment as the playoff battle continues to intensify.
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With just over three minutes left in the second quarter and Atlanta holding a narrow 31-29 lead, Reese drove into the paint looking to score. Jonquel Jones met the Dream forward at the rim and cleanly swatted her shot into the crowd, sending the Barclays Center into a roar. But as the two players came down from the play, Jones got in Reese’s face with an in-your-face attitude, prompting an altercation between the two. So the officials stepped in to separate them and assessed a double technical foul.
“Now JJ and Angel get into it, after Jonquel swats a shot attempt out of bounds. This time, the refs call a double tech, but JJ gestures to the Barclays crowd to get them involved, and earns a roar,” Myles Ehrlich wrote on X.
This technical now marks the second of the postseason for Angel Reese, leaving her facing a $500 fine under WNBA rules. If she reaches four technical fouls during the playoffs, she will also receive an automatic one-game suspension. However, the latest exchange was particularly notable given that Jones was the one who stepped in to calm things down during an earlier confrontation between the teams.
Just minutes before the incident with Jones, tensions had already flared after Sabrina Ionescu was called for an offensive foul. The Liberty guard shoved Atlanta’s Izzy Borlase while setting a screen for Marine Fauthoux. That prompted Angel Reese to rush over in defense of her teammate. But as Reese and Ionescu began exchanging words, and players from both sides quickly became involved, Jones stepped between the players, attempting to break up the confrontation and settle things down.
Her role in that earlier exchange made the subsequent clash with Angel Reese all the more striking, as the two found themselves at the center of another heated moment before the first half was over.
The playoff intensity has carried onto the scoreboard, too. By the end of the third quarter, New York had fought its way to a 68-66 lead, refusing to let its season slip away without a fight. With the Liberty pushing to force another game and Atlanta just one win from the Finals, the closing stretch promises to test both teams’ composure as much as their execution.