Angel Reese’s night in Toronto was never going to be simple. Playing inside against a Toronto Tempo squad that seemed willing to make every possession a physical test, Reese spent the first half battling for position, absorbing contact, and watching fouls go uncalled. Then came the third quarter, and a former teammate decided to make things personal.
After Atlanta’s 102-77 road win on Sunday, Dream head coach Karl Smesko pointed directly to Angel Reese’s ability to block out the noise as the reason she took over the second half. Asked about how his forward handled the physicality and the lack of calls, Smesko was direct: “It’s one of those situations where she’s going to be inside, she’s going to be physical, and sometimes not getting the calls, you know, have to manage it. You can’t control it, so you just gotta keep playing. I thought she did that tonight, and I think that’s a large reason why she had such a great second half of the game.”
That second half became the story of the game. Atlanta trailed 25-13 after one quarter, shooting poorly from deep and losing their defensive assignments. The turnaround started in the second, when the Dream erupted for 34 points, their highest-scoring second quarter of the season. Over the final three quarters, Atlanta outscored Toronto 89-52 and never trailed again.
Reese was the engine behind that swing. She finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, recording her ninth double-double of the season. Her 11 offensive rebounds tied the second-most in a single WNBA game. Isobel Borlase came off the bench to carve up Toronto’s defense for a career-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, giving Atlanta the jolt it needed while chasing the game. Allisha Gray tied her season high with 26 points, and Rhyne Howard added 24 more. Gray made her appreciation for Reese clear after the win: “Angel’s a beast on the board. She does everything that we need to help us win and accomplish our goals for the game.”
With Atlanta leading 52-42, Reese received the ball in the paint. Toronto forward Isabelle Harrison, who played alongside Reese in Chicago during her rookie season in 2024, wrapped both arms around Angel Reese from behind and dragged her to the floor. Reese got up visibly upset, held back by teammates, and was seen in tears before heading to the free throw line. Harrison’s foul was upgraded from a common foul to a Flagrant 2, resulting in an automatic ejection, a $1,000 fine, and two flagrant points that put her two away from an automatic one-game suspension.
Angel Reese’s Response On The Board Spoke Louder Than The Drama
Harrison finished the night with a team-high 17 points before her ejection, but her absence only accelerated what was already a rout. Without their most physical presence, Toronto’s offense stalled. Atlanta kept attacking, with Angel Reese continuing to dominate the glass through the fourth quarter. The Dream finished with 23 fast break points, holding Toronto to just four, and cruised to a 25-point victory.
Reese shot just 6-of-19 from the field, a number that would look like a rough night on paper. But her 11 offensive rebounds generated extra possessions all evening and kept the Dream in rhythm on their best offensive quarter of the season. As Smesko noted after the game, the boards created shots that the Dream could trust: “You feel good about taking the shot when you know if you miss it, your teammate’s going to clean it up for you.”
Atlanta improves to 9-4 overall and 5-2 on the road. The Dream are 4-0 in games following a loss this season, which speaks to the resilience Smesko has built into this roster. The Reese-Harrison matchup is not settled either. The two teams meet again on June 22, this time in Atlanta. How the league rules on any further flagrant accumulation for Harrison, and how Angel Reese responds on her home floor, will add another layer to what is already one of the more compelling rivalries forming in the 2026 WNBA season.
