I know how the faint praise goes, but a lot of the important things Angel Reese does actually do show up in the box score. They certainly did in Atlanta’s Game 2 win over New York on Wednesday, a 101-98 overtime thriller that gave the Dream a 2-0 lead in the semifinals.
This showed up in the box score:
And so did this:
And this, too:
But perhaps Reese's most important contribution to last night's win involved zero jostling or hustling, only some focus. In the box score, beside the 23 points and seven rebounds, you’ll notice that she went 6-of-6 from the free throw line. After a Breanna Stewart layup cut the Dream's lead to 86-85 with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Liberty decided to play the foul game. “They should foul Reese, and they do,” Ryan Ruocco said on the ESPN broadcast. “Reese is the player to foul, just a 72 percent free throw shooter.”
The pair she sank then, her third and fourth free throws, might have been the ones to remember were it not for Liberty rookie Marine Fauthoux’s game-tying three on New York’s next possession. Instead, we’d have to wait for free throws five and six in overtime. After Sabrina Ionescu threw a pass to absolutely no one with 6.5 seconds left, the Liberty had to foul again. Before DeWanna Bonner inbounded the ball, Reese ran over from the other side of the court, whispered some instructions in her teammate's ear, then broke for the backcourt, where she could receive the inbounds pass (legal in the last two minutes of overtime) and drain another few seconds off the clock before New York fouled her. She strutted to the line and made them both—no fuss, it was over in the span of about 20 seconds. The drama that then unfolded between the Liberty coaching staff and the officiating crew wasn't her problem.
The first question of Holly Rowe’s postgame interview with Reese sort of devolved as she spoke—“How were you thinking through that moment … and greatness waiting for you?”—but there’s a note of finality to a performance like that. So I don’t blame Rowe. What’s even left to ask?
In Reese's rookie season, I first pitched her as an acquired taste, a kooky player, someone understandably misunderstood. But my take has become a little more militant now: I think less of a person who can’t come away from a full game and find something to appreciate about her talent. I'd say they don’t really understand basketball at all.
This series between the Liberty and Dream has been a real treat if, like me, you worship at the altar of motor, the kind both Reese and Stewart epitomize. No one out there is working more than they do, no one covers more ground, no one really makes you feel the force of their effort the way that those two players can. Right now, that effort is needed. Allisha Gray has missed the last six quarters with an injury to her shooting hand; Rhyne Howard has shot 10-for-40 in this series; even before the turnover to no one, Ionescu bricked four free throws in a three-point game; Leonie Fiebich has played meek. With condolences to Stewart and Reese—that really sucks for them—the game’s almost more fun this way. You can just watch the two of them go about their business, doing it all, their switches always on.
