SAN FRANCISCO — All eyes are on Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream, and the adjustments they’ll make after narrowly falling to the Golden State Valkyries 68-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. In a game in which the offense faltered in the fourth quarter, collecting only eight points and 2-of-19 from the field, the Dream are searching for a way to make the Valkyries’ historically great defense flinch.
Ahead of Game 2, Deam star forward Reese reflected on what went wrong in the first match of the seven-game series and explained what they need to do to uncork the offense.
“We let one slip away, we let one go away. Can't feel comfortable, especially going into the fourth quarter like, they're the best team in the fourth quarter,” Reese said in a packed media scrum outside of the Atlanta locker room.
“We had a lot of good shots actually in the last game. Our first quarter was amazing when we had great spacing and when we were screening away and when we were getting each other open. So we just have to get back to who we are.
I think our second-half fatigue looked like it kicked in for all of us, and that's no excuse at all, but we just have to be running down on the strategy. Our bench is going to be ready today so I'm looking forward to it.”
Reese and the Dream found a lot of success in their half-court offense in the first half of Game 1, with the reigning defensive player of the year collecting all 14 of her points in that stretch on 5-of-9 shooting, attacking the Golden State frontcourt relentlessly in the paint.
But in the second half, her touches dried up as the Valkyries did a phenomenal job denying Reese from getting the ball in her spots, with starting center and 2nd-Team All-Defense recipient Kiah Stoke taking point on stifling the Dream's star.
Reese attempted just two shots in the second half, as Atlanta's offense seemed to drift away from the big and towards the perimeter.
“I think Angel got a lot of touches. Third quarter, not so many, but I just think we need to be more active in terms of creating shots,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said before the game.
Article Continues Below“It's not just about the touches. It's can we get into an action that creates an advantage. And when we slow down, some of those advantages for everybody, including Angel, kind of dry up, and then it's all it becomes one-on-one and Golden State's too good at defense just to make this one-on-one breakdowns. So, we have to help one another get open.”
On the Valkyries side of things, Golden State knows keeping Reese from even getting the ball will be the key to keeping the Dream in check.
“Don’t let her touch it,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said matter-of-factly. “She's a tough coverage, even when she has the ball. I mean, she drives with force, so it's just making sure we're taking away the shot that she wants.
But also, again, it's going to be team-based anyway, so we're always going to make sure we're shifted in the right spots. But again, attention to detail. We didn't dictate the last game from the jump. And so we want to be up into the ball, we want to pressure, we want to dictate. And so, looking forward to our four best quarters of defense. It will be today.”