NEW YORK (AP) — Angel Reese was sitting at home watching the end of the WNBA Finals last season when she tweeted “ manifesting the finals.”
Exactly 364 days later, Reese is there after helping Atlanta reach the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013 with a 22-point effort in the Dream's 85-83 win over the New York Liberty on Friday night.
“Sat at home the last two years and watched it,” Reese said of the championship round. “I texted Kah (Kahleah Copper), just get me one game in the playoffs.”
Now Reese is playing on the WNBA's biggest stage. The fourth-seeded Dream completed the three-game sweep of the Liberty and haven't lost in the postseason this year. They will face Golden State, which swept defending champion Las Vegas, in the WNBA Finals beginning Saturday, Oct. 17.
Reese, who was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, came to Atlanta this offseason in a trade and proved to be a key reason the Dream advanced to the championship round. The Dream hadn't reached the semifinals since 2018 before this season. Now, they'll try to win the franchise's first championship with four more victories.
“The job isn’t done,” Reese said. “Happy where we are right now. We’re not satisfied.”
Atlanta led 83-81 with 17.7 seconds left after turning the ball over, giving New York one last chance. But, Breanna Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds left. DeWanna Bonner hit two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the win.
“I missed a bunny to tie the game which really stinks,” Stewart said. “Atlanta is a tough team. You know tons of credit to them for making it tough for us every single night and wish them the best in the Finals.”
Dream coach Karl Smesko was happy.
“We were able to make the last couple of plays and able to move onto the Finals,” Smesko said. “Excited about it and proud of the way our players competed and pull together and held on to win.”
Atlanta won it without leading scorer Allisha Gray, who has been sidelined with a finger injury sustained in Game 1. She missed Game 2 and warmed up before Friday night’s game, but was ruled out about an hour before the tip. She was on the bench cheering for her teammates in a Howard jersey.
Howard got the Dream going early with 11 points in the first quarter. Reese had 10 in that period, including hitting two 3-pointers.
Things got chippy in the second quarter. After Isobel Borlase scored twice in a row, Sabrina Ionescu went to set a screen on her and was called for the offensive foul. She and Reese then started jawing with each other before being broken up by officials. A few minutes later, Jones blocked Reese’s shot and the two bumped chests while talking trash. The referees stepped in and gave both a technical foul.
New York was able to get within 40-39 late in the half before Reese scored the final four points of the second quarter to give Atlanta a 44-39 lead.
The Dream scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 51-39 lead. New York responded with a 16-4 run, including scoring the first 10 points in the outburst to take its first lead since 2-0 on a tip-in by Jones. The Liberty led 68-66 after the third quarter.
Atlanta was down four early in the fourth quarter before scoring the next eight points to take a 75-71 lead with 4:55 left as they held New York without a basket for over six minutes. The teams went back and forth before Atlanta moved ahead 83-79 with a minute to go.
Jonquel Jones hit a layup to make it a two-point game, but it wasn't enough. Jones and Stewart finished with 26 points apiece.
The loss ended a frustrating season for New York, which returned most of the same core that won the franchise’s first championship two years ago. The team struggled for consistency this season and finished as the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. They knocked off top-seeded Minnesota in the first round, but struggled against the Dream.
“What I'm thinking about right now is a lost opportunity,” Stewart said. “It's really hard to get to the Finals and it's really hard to win a WNBA championship.”
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