A loss seemed inevitable for Angel Reese on her Atlanta Dream debut. In the final play of the game against the Minnesota Lynx, with the scoreboard reading 91-90 to the Dream, Olivia Miles found Emese Hof in the paint with a bullet pass. And it seemed like a straightforward layup to win the game. But Reese leaped for a block to deny Lynx the win. The clutch block rounded out a record-breaking game for Reese, who broke a record linked with legend Tina Charles.
Reese started slowly with her scoring as she had only 3 points while going 1 of 5 from the field. However, she bounced back in the second, scoring 8 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. Reese finished the game with an 11 point,14 rebound double-double along with three blocks, two steals, and two assists. She ended up with nine offensive rebounds by herself, two more than the Lynx had as a team. With this statline, Reese hit a major milestone to make the headlines.
“Angel Reese officially recorded her 50th career double-double,” Atlanta Dream PR wrote. “Reese hit this milestone in only 65 games, the fewest of any player in WNBA history. At 24 years old Reese is also the second youngest to hit this career milestone, only behind Tina Charles”
Despite a dominating display, Reese was a part of the supporting cast for her teammates in this game. Allisha Gray led the way, scoring 24 points and adding 8 rebounds herself, while both Naz Hillmon and Rhyne Howard scored 15 points each. The team as a whole showed incredible poise as they once trailed by 19 points in the first half. But they did not panic, crawling back into the game slowly and closing it out in the late minutes.
“I knew I needed to come up for my teammates on the last possession and get that block … no matter what happened before that,” Reese said postgame. “So I just give kudos to my teammates for continuing to instill confidence in me. My rookie year, I probably would have just melted and not be able to fight back and be able to come out with that big block. So shoutout to my teammates. ” Despite the win, there are still things to improve for Angel Reese.
Karl Smesko Reveals Early Trouble With Angel Reese After Lynx Game
Going from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream is a drastic switch for Angel Reese. She is not the main star anymore. With the likes of Rhyne Howard, Alisha Gray, and Naz Hillmon on the squad, the offense does not flow through her. In addition, the Dream rely on the three-ball a lot more than the Sky did, with the second-most 3-pointers attempted last year. So, there will be a period of transition for the star despite her talent. And Smesko admitted that she was still getting to grips with her new team early into this game.
“Angel Reese has been practicing great, and she came up big in the biggest moments. She had that late layup, an offensive rebound, and then the block to win it,” Smesko said. “At first, she was trying to feel her way around a little bit, maybe with first-game nerves, but she’s a total competitor. When the game came down to the end and we needed a play, she made it. I’m not surprised at all. She’s that type of person.”
Once instincts took over and the gears aligned, Reese gelled in. However, there could be moments where Reese seems out of sync with the rest of the squad. “It was tough for me, obviously, because I didn’t finish well tonight, and I was really hard on myself,” Reese said. “But, I mean, this is what basketball is, and we talk about it all the time about the next best action and being able to be ready for the next possession.”
That attitude is what makes her a ceiling lifter for the Atlanta Dream. Their season is off to the best possible start, knocking off the former No. 1 seed with a comeback win. Nevertheless, Reese will be back in the lab molding into her new role and fitting into this system.
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