The Atlanta Dream are one loss away from elimination in the WNBA Finals after falling to the Golden State Valkyries in Game 5 on Monday night. And afterward, both Angel Reese and head coach Karl Smesko took aim at the officials.
Reese said she has been getting pushed without getting calls, and that the officiating “definitely shifted” after the Dream took a 2-1 series lead. Smesko went even further, calling the contact allowed on Reese “just ridiculous” and saying he’s tired of hearing excuses from the officials.
Valkyries Take Control
Golden State won Game 5 by a final score of 64-55 at Chase Center on Monday night to take a 3-2 series lead, putting the Valkyries one win away from the franchise’s first championship. But the Dream clearly were not pleased with the officiating.
“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 more times just on that,” Smesko said in a clip shared on X.
He also took issue with violations that he felt were missed.
“And then to miss double dribbles and travels, multiple that always led to points? Man, you can’t be at this level and make that many mistakes. I’m kind of tired of some of the excuses that I’m hearing,” Smesko said.
‘It Definitely Took A Big Turn’
Reese also expressed her frustration with the officiating as she pointed to a specific play from earlier in the series involving Valkyries forward Gabby Williams.
“There was also a possession where Gabby pulled me on purpose and she was screaming foul foul, foul and they didn’t call it. So that definitely was frustrating for sure,” Reese said in a clip shared on X. “And her team is saying it, and they’re all screaming foul, but the refs, I don’t know what’s going on, why they can’t hear it.”
Reese also said that she’s being called for offensive fouls after getting pushed first.
“So when I do switch on the post, and I’m a lot stronger than the opponent, I should be able to turn, and they’re calling offensive foul, but I’m getting pushed before that. So that is frustrating for sure,” Reese said.
And she believes things changed when the Dream took control of the series.
“It definitely shifted when we went up 2-1 and things shifted and I don’t know what happened, but it definitely took a big turn,” Reese said.
The Valkyries have now won two straight. The Dream will need to win Game 6 in Atlanta to force a decisive Game 7.
Clearly, the Dream are frustrated with more than just the scoreboard.
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