Angel Reese is going to the WNBA Finals. The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 Friday night at Barclays Center, completing a three-game sweep in the semifinals and sending Reese to the championship series for the first time in her career.
Video:
“I manifested this,” Reese told ESPN after the win.
She meant it literally. “I posted and Tweeted, 10/10/25, that I was manifesting the Finals, and this is my moment,” she told reporters, according to Bleacher Report. “When I came to Atlanta, I knew what I was getting. This team has poured so much into me.”
Reese set the tone early in Game 3, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, including two three-pointers. The game also got heated. Reese exchanged words with Sabrina Ionescu in the second quarter, and a later confrontation with Jonquel Jones led to technical fouls on both players.
The win capped a dominant series for Reese. In Game 2 on Wednesday, she scored a playoff career-high 23 points and hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Dream a 99-98 win and a 2-0 series lead. According to ESPN, the Dream are 13-0 this season in games where Reese makes a three.
It’s been a big first season in Atlanta for the 24-year-old. The Dream acquired Reese from the Chicago Sky in an offseason trade after the Sky won a total of 23 games in her two seasons there. On October 1, she was named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the first player in Dream history to win the award. She also set a new WNBA single-season record with 521 rebounds.
The Finals are a big moment for the franchise too. The fourth-seeded Dream are undefeated this postseason and are making their first Finals appearance since 2013. Atlanta reached the Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013 but lost each time.
Reese made it clear she isn’t satisfied yet. “The job is not done,” she told reporters.
The WNBA Finals begin October 17. The Dream will face the winner of the series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Golden State Valkyries.
