Angel Reese Posts 21 Points, 12 Rebounds as Dream Rout Valkyries 97-71 for 2-1 WNBA Finals Lead

The Atlanta Dream took their first lead of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, beating the Golden State Valkyries 97-71 at State Farm Arena. It was a 26-point rout, and it puts Atlanta up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Angel Reese led the way with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals. She made 7 of 12 shots, both of her three-point tries and all five free throws.

How Atlanta pulled away

The Dream got off to a fast start. Reese scored Atlanta's first basket and hit a three that made it 22-12 late in the first quarter. Golden State missed its first eight shots and did not make a field goal until the 4:38 mark.

Atlanta led 46-40 at halftime. The Valkyries came out of the break hot, with Cecilia Zandalasini hitting two threes in the first 68 seconds of the third quarter, and tied it at 48 and again at 49.

Then the game turned. Atlanta closed the quarter on a 22-8 run to lead 71-57 heading into the fourth. DeWanna Bonner and Isobel Borlase combined for nine straight points while Reese sat.

The lead reached 21 late in the fourth.

The shooting numbers explain it. After shooting below 35% in each of the first two games, Atlanta hit 49.3% from the field and 9 of 22 from three. The Dream also outscored Golden State 44-20 in the paint, and set a franchise record for points in a Finals game, according to CBS Atlanta.

Five Dream players scored in double figures. Rhyne Howard had 16 points and five steals. Naz Hillmon added 15 with three threes, Borlase had 12 off the bench, and Jordin Canada finished with 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Gabby Williams led Golden State with 15 points and eight assists. Tiffany Hayes scored 14, and Zandalasini and Janelle Salaün each had 13. The Valkyries shot 35% from the field.

Dream coach Karl Smesko said he was proudest of the second half. "The first few possessions were a little sloppy. I was really close to using a timeout," he said. "They pulled together on their own and got it worked out, cleaned it up themselves."

Reese's Finals

Reese, 24 years and 168 days old, is the youngest player in WNBA Finals history with three straight double-doubles. She is also the youngest with 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive Finals games, a feat only A'ja Wilson had managed before.

She had 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2. Over the series she is averaging 21.7 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Sporting News writer Jeremy Beren called her the "huge favorite" for Finals MVP.

Reese kept it short afterward. "It feels good when you're in the Finals. When you can do it at the highest level, this is what I live for," she said. "The job is not finished so we're going to keep going."

Atlanta has now outscored Golden State 63-35 in the third quarter across the three games, according to Sky Sports.

The crowd was part of the story. The arena sold out with 17,099 fans, and Howard said the team felt it had to defend its home floor. "We fought for this arena, so we had to protect it," she said. "We went and stole one, but we couldn't let them come in and do the same thing."

The Finals opener drew a record 2.1 million TV viewers, according to the Guardian.

The anthem absence

For the third straight Finals game, both teams were off the court during the national anthem and returned moments after it ended, OutKick reported. The WNBA rulebook calls for players, coaches and trainers to stand and line up during the anthem.

The league has not answered OutKick's questions about the absences. Neither team has publicly explained the practice in the reporting so far.

What comes next

Game 4 is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 24, in Atlanta, on NBC and Peacock. Game 5 is Monday, Oct. 26, in San Francisco. Games 6 and 7, if needed, are set for Thursday, Oct. 29, in Atlanta and Saturday, Oct. 31, at Golden State.

Golden State won Game 1 by 68-64 behind Williams, and Atlanta won Game 2 by 79-65. Two more Dream wins would give the franchise its first WNBA championship.