Angel Reese Reveals Players-Only Meeting Before Dream's Game 6 Win

The Atlanta Dream held a players-only meeting before film ahead of Game 6 of the WNBA Finals, Angel Reese said after Thursday's 80-69 win over the Golden State Valkyries at State Farm Arena.

Atlanta led 32-15 after the first quarter and never trailed after the opening minute. The win tied the series 3-3 and sent it to Game 7 on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Reese had 15 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists on 5-of-18 shooting, including 2-of-8 from 3-point range.

Her 6 assists led Atlanta. The last of them found Allisha Gray for a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left that made it 80-69.

The Dream had lost Games 4 and 5 by a combined 14 points. Monday's 64-55 loss at Chase Center put Golden State one win from a title.

Reese said Naz Hillmon pushed one message in the room.

"Honestly, I think it started with us being able to have a little players-only meeting before film and talking through things and getting our confidence back, getting our swagger back," Reese said. "Naz really emphasized, remember who you are. All of us have been superstars on a team at some point, and you've maximized things and done things that led to winning."

"And we needed the best of every single person tonight, and you could definitely see it," Reese continued. "Everybody came out super confident, anybody that got in, the people that were on the floor. It was just an effort that you just could see that they were the best. And I'm just really proud of this group, the punch first that we emphasized on, of when we can punch first, we've won every single game. So I'm just really proud of just how we came out tonight. And we have to make sure we continue that going into Ballhalla."

Hillmon finished with 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in 29:55. Atlanta was plus-15 with her on the floor, the best mark on the team.

She was assessed a defensive three-second technical foul with 7:31 left in the first quarter. The Dream led 6-5 at that point and scored the next 13 points.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 17,099 for a 12:30 p.m. ET tip-off on a weekday. The crowd was loud from the beginning, and the Dream fed off it.

"You could definitely tell we got our swagger back," Reese explained. "First, shout out to the crowd. Being able to come here at 12:30 on a Thursday, and so many things going on in the world, from school to work to everything else. And we're just super thankful. We fed off their energy. They were loud from the beginning, so we're definitely thankful for that. But we wanted to make sure we maximize this opportunity."

"... And I think everybody left everything they had out there. And that was what was important to us," Reese added. "So we knew shots were going to fall. We knew it was coming because we put so much work in. I'm just really proud of our team for responding the way we did."

Atlanta shot 43.5% from the field and 13-of-30 from 3-point range. In Game 5, the Dream shot 29.2% and made 6 3-pointers.

Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 9 of the 13. Gray scored 23 points, and Howard had 21.

On Wednesday, Reese sent a message before the must-win Game 6.

Reese thinks Atlanta still has another level to reach.

"One, job's not done," Reese said. "We definitely can be happy about it for now, but we have more work to do. I think we definitely have another level that we can get to, like Leash was saying. We shot a lot better this game for sure, but I think we just continue to grow from this. I think our spacing was great tonight. We were able to get out and transition a lot more. We didn't force shots."

"It's something that we emphasize[d], was upgrades, like being able to upgrade and when two come, being able to kick it out to the three," Reese noted. "And I think we did a great job of incorporating film to court and just being able to do that same thing. There are going to be a lot of things that we talk about in this next film session, making sure we implement everything from film to court and do the same thing. And I think that's what helped us a lot tonight."

Atlanta is 1-2 at Chase Center in the series. The Dream won Game 2 there 79-65 and lost Games 1 and 5.

In that Game 2 win, Reese had 30 points and 16 rebounds. She followed it with 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3 in Atlanta.

Game 7 will be louder than Atlanta's first three trips to Chase Center, in Reese's view.

"Luckily we've been able to play there, what, three times now," Reese said. "So just honestly containing ourselves, containing our emotions, valuing possessions is something that we've kind of been doing all year. I think the crowd doesn't really get to us much. But I think obviously Game 7 is going to be a lot louder. The energy is going to be electric in there. So just honestly staying poised, staying together, and I think we'll be fine."

Every Valkyries home game at Chase Center has been a sellout across the franchise's two seasons.

Reese, a three-time All-Star, was named the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year in her first season in Atlanta. She told fans after Thursday's win, in an on-court interview, that she appreciated them coming out on a weekday.

USA Network and Peacock carry Game 7 at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.