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The Angel Reese Era with the Atlanta Dream got off to a great start, as the Dream overcame a 19-point first-half deficit to defeat the Minnesota Lynx on the road 91-90 on Saturday.
Reese, who had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, had the game-saving block on Emese Hof’s layup attempt at the buzzer.
Before Reese’s heroics, Atlanta’s Allisha Gray, who had a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds, had a huge block on Olivia Miles layup attempt with 6.6 seconds to go. Before Reese and Gray’s big plays on defense, the Dream trailed 90-89, but Te-Hina Paopao would hit a jump shot with 12.0 seconds to go to put Atlanta up for good.
After the win, Gray discussed her big block.
“I just knew that I had to be on the help side,” Gray said. ”My biggest thing was just don’t foul. Like, if she makes the shot, just make it tough, and I just held my hands up and got the block.”
Reese struggled with her shot (4-11 FG) and had five turnovers, but she was determined to make a big defensive play for her teammates.
“I knew I needed to come up for my teammates on that last possession and get that block,” Reese said. “And no matter what happened before that, so I just give kudos to my teammates for continuing to instill confidence into me. My rookie year, I probably would have just melted down and not been able to fight back , and just be able to come out with that big block. So shout out to my teammates.”
The 24-year-old Reese’s double-double was the 50th of her career, and she did it in only 65 games, which is the fastest of any player in WNBA history. She won her Dream debut, which, according to her, made it great, but she feels the her and the team can be better.
“My experience has been great because we got the win,” she said. ”It was rough for me tonight, but this is what you call the team, being able to have players that have your back and always will pick you up, even when you’re not having the best game and always in your ear, putting a lot of confidence into you… I’m happy we got the win tonight, and we just continue to grow and get better because this wasn’t our best.”
Atlanta had players in double figures, which included all five starters. Rhyne Howard and Naz Hillmon had 15 points apiece.
Miles led the Lynx with 21 points, and Kayla McBride added 20 points.
Photo: Atlanta Dream