Oct 26, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) talks with referee Randy Richardson (11) during the game against the Golden State Valkyries in the third quarter of game five of the 2026 WNBA Finals at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Qwame Skinner Tue, October 27, 2026 at 6:50 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The WNBA Finals have completely flipped after the Atlanta Dream took a 2-1 series lead over the Golden State Valkyries. The Valkyries are now going into Thursday's Game 6 up 2-1 with a chance to clinch the first championship in the franchise's young two-year history.
A major contributing factor to the series turnaround has been the play of Angel Reese, which went from dominant in the first three games to abysmal in the last two. Reese's struggles have caught the attention of former Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho, who didn't hesitate to call out the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year.
"Angel, you can't call for attention and hang up. Your game had called for attention. Absolutely balling. First three games of the WNBA Finals, you were averaging 21 points and 14 boards," Acho said on his Speakeasy podcast.
"Your game had called for attention, but you can't call for attention and hang up because the last 2 games— gotta have them games— you've had more turnovers than made field goals. The Dream Live and Die by Angel Reese. They were living, sitting on the throne, yet these last 2 games they're gasping for oxygen because Angel hasn't shown up. Last game, Angel Reese went 2-for-12 from the field.
"This game, Angel Reese went 2-for-8 from the field combined. Y'all do the math. 4-for -20 from the field. You're shooting 20% from the field in the Finals, the last two games. The whole world is now watching Angel Reese."
Acho went on to call on Reese to dominate again with her team on the brink.
"Now she's one game away from elimination. So her game called for attention. You can't hang up now. Now you got to deliver. Because if Giannis gave us 8 in a Finals game. If Giannis gave us seven in a Finals game, and I'm talking about individuals that have DPOYs, that's why I brought up Giannis… Come on now. If Hakeem Olajuwon—again, talking about bigs or the DPOYs—gave us eight or seven after giving us 30, come on now.
"You're not the Rudy Gobert of the WNBA. At least we no longer believe you are to be. So if you are going to show up, you always have to show up in the biggest moments, because now the whole world isn't necessarily watching, but the whole world is talking. With everybody talking about you, don't give them nothing negative to say. But the play has been objectively atrocious, objectively atrocious the last two games. This has nothing to do with gender, has nothing to do with race, got nothing to do with nothing besides like, yo, you got to find a way to get a dub because you cannot go back to the A and lose there."
Reese and the Dream have taken exception with the officiating in Games 4 and 5, but they'll have to overcome it, or the criticism for the collapse will be just as loud as the praise after Atlanta took the series lead.
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Source: Sports
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