Angel Reese was one of two Atlanta Dream players to miss layups in final seconds of a heartbreaking defeat to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sunday.
Reese made sure Tuesday’s win over the Las Vegas Aces did not come down to the final seconds by scoring 21 points with 10 rebounds and four assists in the 97-82 victory.
After Tuesday’s game, Reese admitted to reporters that the viral missed layup against Clark and the Fever motivated her performance for the Dream against the Aces.
“I knew how much my team needed me,” Reese said in her postgame press conference. “Like I said last game, I mean, it was very tough for me. I didn’t sleep.”
“The competitor in me wanted to win that game so bad, and I replayed that play so many times But I’m like, ‘Why would I let one moment dictate everything else I have going on that’s positive?’” she continued.
“So, just showing up for my team, it would have been negative for me not to come out tonight and just bounce back. And I knew they expected it from me,” Reese explained.
Reese was one of four Dream starters to score in double figures during Tuesday’s win over Las Vegas, while Atlanta held the Aces to 40 percent shooting in the game.
Rhyne Howard, whose airball on Sunday set up Reese’s viral missed layup against the Fever, led the Dream with 23 points, while Reese and Allisha Gray added 21 points; Jordin Canada scored 17; and Naz Hillmon, who rebounded Reese’s missed layup before missing one of her own at buzzer on Sunday, chipped in seven points.
The win helped the Dream to turn the page following the overtime loss to the Fever.
The latest matchup of the basketball rivalry between Clark and Reese, which dates back to their college days at Iowa and LSU, respectively, set TV viewership records on ESPN.
ESPN averaged 2.58 million viewers for Sunday’s Fever-Dream contest, making it the largest audience of all time for a WNBA game broadcasted on cable, according to Sports Media Watch.
The increased attention on Reese-Clark meetings only adds to the pressure on players to perform well.
As they head toward a likely playoff appearance, it was a good sign for Reese and the Dream that Sunday’s crushing loss did not linger into their next game.
