ATLANTA — Angel Reese blamed herself for a poor performance in Game 4 on Saturday after opening the WNBA Finals with three consecutive double-doubles.
Reese was held to eight points, making only 2 of 12 shots from the field, and grabbed nine rebounds in the Atlanta Dream's 67-62 loss to the Golden State Valkyries that evened the series at 2-2.
"I think it was me, I think I rushed a lot on my shots and I didn't take my time and finish around the basket like I've been doing the last three games," Reese said. "It happens and I'm just looking forward to the next game and just do it."
Reese blocked three shots but had six of Atlanta's 17 turnovers. Center Kiah Stokes led Golden State's defense against Reese.
“She’s been the head of their snake all series, so for me it was just trying to make every look that she had of the basket difficult,” Stokes said. “It’s a tough job, but I think being our best defensive big, I've got to own up to that challenge. Like I said, it was trying to just make her take difficult shots.”
While leading Atlanta to wins in Games 2 and 3, Reese became only the second player, following A'Ja Wilson, to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in consecutive games in the WNBA Finals.
While Reese blamed herself, Gabby Williams gave credit to Golden State's defense.
“I’m sorry if I sound redundant, but we just picked up our ball pressure,” Williams said when asked the key to the Valkyries' success against Reese and the Dream. “I think we’re a bit more connected today, and that gives us our energy.”
Atlanta's three lowest-scoring games of the season have come against Golden State, including twice in this series. Reese said the Dream will focus on “just getting back to who we are, our identity, being the enforcers and just knowing who we are” heading into Game 5 on Monday.
Reese said being outscored 26-15 in the second quarter was devastating for Atlanta. The Dream tried to rally and won the fourth quarter 17-13, but it was too late.
“We applied a lot of pressure, but we can’t wait until the second half to do it,” Reese said.
Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 19 points. Jordin Canada and Isobel Borlase each had 10.
“We knew they were going to come out aggressive, we know they were going to come out with a different mentality,” Howard said. “If you’re asking us what they did, I would say it was about the lack of effort on our part.”
The Valkyries took a 72-54 advantage in shots from the field.
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