Angel Reese helps power Dream to franchise’s first WNBA Finals game win

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dream have won their first WNBA Finals game. They bounced back from their disappointing Game 1 loss to the Valkyries to take Game 2 decisively.

Behind a fiery night from forward Angel Reese, the Dream downed the Valkyries 79-65 on Monday night at Chase Center.

Quick stats: Reese became the youngest player to record 30 points and 16 rebounds in a WNBA playoff game. Allisha Gray had 18 points and 5 rebounds, while Jordin Canada had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists.

Key moment

With a full head of steam, Reese got downhill and finally got the better of Valkyries’ Kiah Stokes. The Valkyries post player has been a menace in the paint and has blocked or cut off several of the Dream’s looks at the rim.

But Reese took a running pass from Gray and didn’t miss a beat. She drove in from the right before gathering her step and going left. She went up and under for the layup, drew the foul and completed the three-point play.

Highlight play

The Dream dominated the third quarter, holding the Valkyries to just four points in the final 5:40 of the frame.

But Dream guard Jordin Canada put the exclamation point on the quarter that completely shifted the game in their favor.

With the clock winding down, Canada raced down the court, pulled up at the logo and put the shot up. It flew through the air as the clock wound down from 0.5 to 0.4 to 0.3 to 0.2 to 0.1.

When the buzzer sounded and the clock read 0.0, the ball still hadn’t hit the net. It didn’t matter because Canada would get the Dream three points and a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

What they said

“I was hungry. I wanted one.I think we let one slip away, and you can’t do that, especially on the road where this is a good environment and a good team, and we all came together and we were p-----.” Reese on if she had a different feeling coming into Monday’s game.

“... But boy, did (Rhyne Howard) have an impact on the defensive side of the ball today, like deflections, steals, getting us out in transition, making good decisions with the ball. I mean, she came up huge for us despite the foul trouble.” -- Dream coach Karl Smesko on Howard’s defensive effort.

“... turnovers was a big one, but you could tell that they ramped up their defense. So we just got to stay focused, stay locked in. I felt like we just had a few too many lapses on defense, where it’s like we knew what to do, but we just weren’t executing.” -- Valkyries Kiah Stokes on the biggest difference between Game 1 and 2.