Angel Reese becomes fastest player to 1,000 rebounds as Dream beat Caitlin Clark-led Fever 113-96
Angel Reese etched her name in the record books Saturday afternoon, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,000 career rebounds, as the Atlanta Dream dominated the Indiana Fever 113-96 at State Farm Arena.
Reese finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds, falling just short of what would have been her 60th career double-double.
"I think people don't realize rebounding is harder than you think," Reese said after the game. "Just being able to come out and do what I do, it shows my consistency. I want more."
All five Atlanta starters reached double figures for the second consecutive game against Indiana. Rhyne Howard led the way with 24 points on 4-of-10 shooting from three, while Allisha Gray added 22, Naz Hillmon chipped in 19 and Jordin Canada finished with 12 points and a game-high 12 assists without committing a single turnover. Canada also added three steals.
"I've been under the weather recently, not been feeling great," Canada said. "But I knew coming into the game I had to be sharp defensively, just making sure my teammates were getting involved and allowing the game to come to me."
Head coach Karl Smesko said Indiana came out sharp in the first half and forced Atlanta to adjust.
"Indiana, that first half, they were exceptional, they were shooting it great, they were getting good shots," Smesko said. "Fortunately, our offense was good enough to hang around."
The Fever shot nearly 80% in the first half, exposing miscommunications in Atlanta's defense that led to open looks and uncontested layups. The Dream held the Fever to just 15 points in the third quarter and built their lead to 20 before letting the reserves close things out. Atlanta scored 20 points off Indiana's 19 turnovers, an area that has been a consistent advantage across both meetings this week.
"It was really the second half where our communication got better, our switching was a lot better, our help side was in the right spot," Smesko said. "Indiana is really well coached. They took how we were guarding stuff last game and immediately made adjustments and punished it, which forced us to reevaluate some things."
Caitlin Clark led Indiana with 26 points and seven assists but committed seven turnovers. Aliyah Boston added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sophie Cunningham contributed 13 off the bench, but the Fever could never fully close what became an increasingly lopsided game.
Atlanta's bench chipped in 18 points, with Te-Hina Paopao providing a reliable spark with 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three. Indya Nivar added three points in just one minute of action.
The Dream's lead grew to 20 with under three minutes to play, eclipsing 100 points for the third consecutive game.
A technical foul on Indiana's Sophie Cunningham midway through the fourth quarter helped fuel another Atlanta run. Howard converted the free throw before Canada found Gray on the ensuing possession, extending the Dream's advantage to 16 points.
Angel Reese's flagrant foul with 5:49 remaining sent her to the bench for the remainder of regulation, but by then the game was well in hand.
Atlanta has now scored more than 100 points in three straight games and four of their last five. Smesko attributed the offensive surge to pace and ball movement.
"You can't get comfortable," he said. "Our offense is really good right now, but because we're executing it with a certain pace and precision, as soon as it doesn't have either of those, we're no longer clicking."
Indiana drops to 9-7 with the loss as the rivalry between these two teams shapes up as one of the most compelling in the WNBA this season. The Dream are the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference at 10-4. They face the Toronto Tempo Monday at State Farm Arena.
