Angel Reese Takes Blame After Dream Go Away From Her in Finals Loss

Angel Reese made five of her first six shots Saturday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco. She did not make another field goal.

Reese scored 11 points in the first quarter and was a plus-13 in eight minutes, and Atlanta led the Golden State Valkyries 22-14 after one.

She went 0-for-5 over the final three quarters, finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and fouled out with 24 seconds left in a 68-64 loss.

Reese, the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year, also had 2 steals, 1 block, and 4 turnovers in 35 minutes. Five of her rebounds came on the offensive glass.

Reese's message to the Dream before Game 2 is to go back into the film room and figure out what they messed up on.

"I don't think they really did anything," Reese said. "Maybe that was just on me, I wasn't aggressive enough with the ball and trying to get to the ball and get to my spots."

"Definitely going to do a better job of that next game," Reese continued.

The Dream carried a 56-51 lead into the fourth quarter. Rhyne Howard's two free throws with 3:12 left made it 64-61, and those were Atlanta's last points.

The Dream scored 8 in the quarter, went 4-of-25 from 3-point range for the game, and turned it over 12 times.

A late 3 from Naz Hillmon was one of the good looks that did not go down, and Dream coach Karl Smesko said one make would have had Atlanta talking about a chance to win instead of its mistakes.

"I thought we had one really good look with Rhyne, and then when they were up floor, Lish got wide open for an open three, [down] to the last few seconds," Smesko said. "They guarded some actions really well."

"I just think in the second half, in particular, we didn't move the ball well enough," Smesko added. "Like we did a little bit too much one-on-one instead of getting into actions. Angel had a great first half. We didn't get her the ball enough. Those will be some things that we talk about for Game 2."

Allisha Gray scored a team-high 19 points in her return.

She hurt her left ring finger, on her shooting hand, in the first quarter of the semifinal opener against the New York Liberty on Oct. 4. She missed the final two games of Atlanta's sweep and had a minor procedure on the hand, ESPN reported.

Gray went 5-of-19 from the field. Seven of her eight 3-point attempts missed, and she made all eight of her free throws.

None of her seven fourth-quarter shots fell, according to The Associated Press, the last a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left that would have put Atlanta in front.

Her 19.0 points per game led the Dream in the regular season.

Gray is headed into the same film session Smesko described.

"I felt good playing out there," Gray said. "Finger felt good. Was able to get through the physicality."

"Definitely disappointed in the loss," Gray continued. "But like Coach said, we're going to have a film session to clean up some mistakes that we had, and be prepared and ready to win Game 2."

Howard scored 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-9 from 3, with 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes.

Jordin Canada had 8 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, also in 38 minutes.

Smesko said the Dream handled the Chase Center crowd well and that their breakdowns were miscommunications on things they had worked on.

"That's what this game comes down to," Smesko explained. "Like you have two shots go in and out, and at some point in the game, they bank in a three. I don't think we can -- we're going to look at everything. We're going to watch and try to get better."

"We were right there. Right there," Smesko added. "So that's why it hurts a little bit. But it also motivates us. We know what we're capable of doing. So we'll have one day to get ourselves as ready as possible, and then I think we'll play even better."

Golden State won all three regular-season meetings, between June 24 and July 4, NBC Sports Bay Area reported.

Atlanta reached the Finals as the No. 4 seed and went 5-0 in the playoffs, beating the Washington Mystics 2-0 and sweeping the Liberty, a series in which Naz Hillmon lifted Atlanta to an overtime win in Game 2.

Saturday's loss ended a franchise-record 10-game winning streak. The Dream are in the Finals for the first time since 2013 after earlier trips in 2010 and 2011.

Game 2 is Monday at Chase Center at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.

The series then moves to Atlanta, where Games 3 and 4 will be played at State Farm Arena instead of the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena.