The Indiana Fever escaped Sunday night with a thrilling 95-91 overtime win against the Atlanta Dream. Angel Reese finished the night with another double-double, but her missed game-winning layup late in regulation time drew criticism online.
Though she recorded 15 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists, she shot 5-of-16 from the field overall. In particular, her first half was underwhelming as she went 3-of-10 from the floor.
Atlanta trailed 36-27 in the second quarter before fighting back with a 17-4 run, heading into the locker room with a 4-point halftime lead. With the Dream leading 44-40, Monica McNutt and Chiney Ogwumike broke down Reese’s turnaround after a slow start.
McNutt noted that the Dream forward’s impact went far beyond scoring, saying,
“We saw Angel Reese in particular, her energy shifted. I thought when she got some of those easy baskets to go in the paint… that’s when you saw this defense begin to pick up its energy.”
Ogwumike agreed, adding,
“Athletes know it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and that energy is contagious because if you look at Angel Reese, she already has seven and nine; she’s already getting close to a double-double… There’s no one better to learn from when it comes to being a beast on the boards than Angel Reese. “
Some of Caitlin Clark’s fans took issue with that breakdown on X.
One user wrote, “ESPN is worse propaganda than the political news media.”
Another user added, “How can you take ANY of this seriously? I mean, she was 3-10. How can you spin THAT hard? The spiral continues and I don’t see a floor.”
A third user penned, “So pathetic.”
The fourth user noted, “That’s what they do at espn. Glaze angel sauce.”
Another X user claimed, “They need to make a change somewhere. No balance on that panel at all. Know your audience and the reason why said audience is watching.”
Another fan wrote, “Hahaha 3-10 in the first half. This is ridiculous @espn . Talk about a lack of credibility.”
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Angel Reese climbs all-time WNBA list despite loss
Despite the tough loss, Angel Reese hit a massive career milestone on Sunday night as she recorded her 23rd double-double of the season. According to the WNBA, it was the 72nd double-double of her career, allowing her to pass Cheryl Ford for 15th place on the WNBA’s all-time list.
At halftime, Reese was brutally honest about her slow start, saying she felt she “played like s***” early in the game. Dream coach Karl Smesko downplayed the missed opportunities at the end of regulation, noting that Angel Reese and Naz Hillmon executed the game plan.
“We just had to move on to the next play. They both did exactly what we asked of them, and then we got two looks right at the end of the game that could have won it for us, but they rolled out.”
With the close loss, the Dream fell to 21-13, while the Fever improved to 23-12 and tightened their grip on the fourth seed.
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Edited by Shardul Sant
