She missed one game with a sore ankle. She didn’t miss a beat when she got back.
Angel Reese returned to the Atlanta Dream lineup Monday night at Gateway Center Arena and delivered exactly what her team needed — 23 points, 13 rebounds, and a corner three that turned a nervy fourth quarter into a celebration. Atlanta beat the Los Angeles Sparks 101-92, pulling the Dream (14-10) back to .500 in their last three games and, more importantly, back on track after a rocky week.
The Comeback Kid Delivers Down the Stretch
Reese had watched Saturday’s loss to Portland from the sideline, sidelined by the same ankle injury that’s nagged her on and off this season. Her first game back looked nothing like a player working her way back into rhythm. She finished with her 16th double-double of the season and the 65th of her career — numbers that have become almost routine for the Dream forward, but the timing of this one mattered more than the stat line.
With the game tied at 87 in the fourth quarter, Reese stepped into a corner three — just her third made triple on the season, on her 22nd attempt — and buried it to give Atlanta a 90-87 lead that ignited the crowd. It wasn’t a lucky heave. According to teammate Allisha Gray, it’s a shot Reese works on relentlessly.
“I’m not surprised she hit that three,” Gray said.
Reese followed that shot with a pair of free throws to push the lead to 92-87, and by the time Rhyne Howard drilled a three-pointer with under 40 seconds left to make it 99-90, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
“Angel made big emotional plays that gave us the energy to close it out,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said.
Balanced Scoring Carries Atlanta Through a Shaky Middle Stretch
This wasn’t a one-woman show, even if Reese provided the signature moments. All five Dream starters scored in double figures — a testament to how balanced this roster can be when everything clicks. Gray added 20 points and continued to serve as the team’s steadying voice, Jordan Canada ran the offense with 16 points and nine assists, Howard chipped in 11, and Naz Hillmon added 10.
The bench did its part too, outscoring the Sparks’ reserves with 21 points, led by Isobel Borlase’s 11 — 10 of which came in a strong second-quarter stretch that helped Atlanta build a commanding 59-48 halftime lead built largely on paint scoring.
That cushion nearly evaporated. The Sparks clawed back to tie the game at 83 with just over six minutes to go, part of a stretch where Atlanta went cold from the field, missing six straight shots including three attempts from beyond the arc.
“Just about everything that could go wrong did,” Smesko said of that stretch.
Reese snapped the drought with two free throws to put Atlanta back in front, and the Dream never trailed again.
An Under-the-Radar Number Worth Noticing
Los Angeles shot better than 52% from the field for the game, and on paper Atlanta’s defense didn’t look sharp. But dig a little deeper and the story is more encouraging: the ball-screen defense that had plagued the Dream during their recent losing skid actually looked improved, even if Smesko wants to see more physicality going forward. Gray credited the team’s work getting over screens and staying attached to ball-handlers — a small, unglamorous fix that made a real difference in a game the Dream controlled for long stretches.
That improvement showed up most clearly in the paint, where Reese helped Atlanta build a 12-point advantage in points in the paint and a 6-point edge in second-chance points during the third quarter — the kind of physical, possession-by-possession dominance that doesn’t always show up in a box score but wins games.
Looking Ahead
With Reese back healthy and the starting lineup clicking on all cylinders, the Dream will look to turn this into a proper winning streak rather than just another one-off. Gray summed up the mindset heading forward:
“It’s time to lock in and string wins together.”
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