SAN FRANCISCO — Angel Reese took aim at the lack of foul calls after the Atlanta Dream dropped Game 5 on Monday night, putting their backs against the wall in their chase for the franchise's first WNBA championship.
"We went up 2-1 and things shifted," Reese said. "I don't know what happened, but it definitely took a big turn."
The Dream dominated in back-to-back double-digit wins to go up in the series, but have now lost two consecutive games after falling to the Golden State Valkyries 64-55 at Chase Center. The Valkyries can win their first championship Thursday in Atlanta.
The third-year Defensive Player of the Year said she was frustrated seeing her teammates "getting slapped to the ground or goggles knocked off." She said the last game Valkyries forward Gabby Williams pulled her on purpose, and Reese screamed "foul" at the ref, but the crew didn't call it.
"A lot of us are getting fouled, and they're not calling it or we're talking to the ref after and they're saying, 'Oh, we'll get you next time,'" Reese said.
Reese is 4 of 20 from the field for 15 points over the last two games after scoring a combined 51 in the two victories. Her free-throw numbers have held steady throughout all five games, with the exception of a series-high 11 attempts in Game 2. She's 25 of 33 from the line in the series.
She continues to struggle against Valkyries center Kiah Stokes, who set the Finals record for blocks (37). After going without a field goal in the second half of Game 1, Reese said she wasn't aggressive enough. When asked again after the Game 4 loss about Stokes, Reese said it wasn't the defense but that she was rushing shots. She said she is still trying to figure out "how to play through the physicality," but that she's "used to it because it's just happening throughout the season."
"We'll figure it out," Reese said. "We're gonna have to just continue to push through the physicality and hopefully it goes our way next game."
Dream coach Karl Smesko credited the Valkyries' solid defense throughout the series, just as he had after Game 4, and noted his team's lackluster offensive performances.
"But I do want to have Angel's back here," Smesko said Monday. "The contact they allow on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous, just ridiculous, and we should have gone to the foul line six to eight times more just on that."
Game 5 was the most even of the series at the free-throw line. Atlanta shot 11 of 14 and Golden State shot 10 of 13. But the gap is massive through the five games. Atlanta leads in free-throw attempts, 130-78, including a 35-19 differential in Game 2.
The WNBA postseason is notoriously known for its physical play. Neither side knocked the officiating until Monday night. In the previous two Finals, it had permeated its way through most of the playoffs. The league initiated an officiating task force in the offseason with a focus on freedom of movement.
It also hasn't been a smooth offensive series. Only once has a team shot better than 40% in a game. The Dream were 49.3% from the floor in the 97-71 Game 3 win. They shot a series-low 29.2% in Game 5.
"There's things that are on us; we're missing shots that we should make," Smesko said. "At the same time, that needs to be a whole lot better than it was. And it's time that if you push somebody with two hands as they drive, it's got to be a foul. I'm kind of tired of some of the excuses that I'm hearing."
Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase was not told what was said by Reese during her post-game press conference, but was asked her thoughts on the physicality in the series.
"Finals. It's Finals. Yeah, this is it," Nakase said. "Both teams really want to win this. And, like you guys even said from the beginning of the Finals, this is two defensive-minded teams. So what are two defensive-minded teams? They like physicality. So that's part of it.
You guys act like I'm shocked. I ain't shocked about this. You have an Atlanta Dream team that's well coached that have dogs. I mean, same as us, and so yeah, it's part of it."