The Atlanta Dream are going to the WNBA Finals. Angel Reese put up 22 points and 9 rebounds as Atlanta beat the New York Liberty 85-83 on the road Friday night to close out a 3-0 semifinal sweep, as reported by CBS Sports.
Jordin Canada ran the show with 19 points, 11 assists and zero turnovers. DeWanna Bonner added 13 points and 13 rebounds and sealed it at the free-throw line. And Atlanta did it without Allisha Gray, who sat with a hand injury, per ClutchPoints.
This one was grown-folks basketball. Reese got in Sabrina Ionescu’s face after a hard foul on Isobel Borlase, and she and Jonquel Jones both caught technicals after a scuffle under the rim. New York led going into the fourth and pushed it to five early in the quarter. Then Canada’s bucket put Atlanta up four with just over a minute left, and New York’s last two chances (an Ionescu turnover and a Breanna Stewart miss) came up empty. Jones (26 and 14) and Stewart (26) left it all out there.
The IAHHM Take
Reese has been the most debated player in women’s basketball since her LSU days. Friday was a loud answer. After the game she put the spotlight on her mom, describing a single mother raising her and her brother “kinda by herself” and saying, “I’m just so thankful to have a mom like that.” Jemele Hill summed up the moment on X: “Whole ‘lotta people owe Angel Reese an apology.”
The stakes are real. This is Atlanta’s third trip to the Finals, and the first two, most recently in 2013, ended in sweeps. The franchise has never won a title. Now the Dream get the Golden State Valkyries, a second-year team that just swept the defending champs, with the series starting Oct. 17.
So which is it: the Dream finally get their ring, or the new kids keep writing history? Tell us your pick.
More hoops and culture: IAHHM Sports.
Source: CBS Sports | ClutchPoints | ClutchPoints (Jemele Hill)
