Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- A pivotal playoff preview takes place tonight between two teams battling for early-season dominance — the Dream and Valkyries.
- The Valkyries the league's top interior defense, while the Dream struggle to finish at the rim.
- The outcome hinges on whether Angel Reese can overcome her career-long finishing issues against an elite defensive front.
In the biggest game of Wednesday night's WNBA schedule, the Atlanta Dream are on the road to take on the Golden State Valkyries. Going off the current standings, this is a first-round playoff preview, as Atlanta is the No. 2 seed and Golden State is the No. 7 seed. Obviously a long way left to go so that can easily change, but it's worth taking note of.
While Atlanta has the better record, the Valkyries have a clear advantage in this game in one important spot, and the Dream will need to find a way to offset that.
Angel Reese vs the Valkyries inside defense is the key to this game
Look. we could talk about the backcourt matchup. We could talk about Veronica Burton and Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, who will all be important to the outcome of this game. But digging into the numbers, there's one very clear place where this game will be decided: the rim.
Stat | League Rank |
|---|---|
Opponent Field Goal Percentage - Restricted Area | 1st |
Opponent Field Goals Made - Restricted Area | 1st |
No team has been better at stopping teams at the rim than the Valkyries have been. Meanwhile, Atlanta's numbers in the restricted area have been all over the place.
Stat | League Rank |
|---|---|
Field Goals Made - Restricted Area | 1st |
Field Goal Percentage - Restricted Area | 13th |
The Dream score at the rim a lot, but they don't do so very efficiently. We're looking at one of the league's worst finishing teams facing the league's best interior defense. This is something that could go very, very wrong for the Dream.
It's also a huge test for Angel Reese. Her struggles to finish efficiently at the rim have been the biggest negative against her throughout her WNBA career. In 2026, she's improved slightly at the rim, but not enough to really make a huge difference. She's shooting a career-best 50.3 percent in the restricted area, but that ranks just 112th among WNBA players.
Not that Reese isn't trying! She's 77-for-153 in the restricted area this season, which means she ranks second in field goals made there and first in attempts. But she just can't seem to consistently get the ball in the basket at the level she needs to. If Reese could start making those shots on the first try rather than often relying on grabbing an offensive board for a putback attempt, she might be the league's scariest player. Instead, teams can be content to let her get to the basket, because there's only a 50-50 shot she'll make the shot.
Reese facing this Valkyries defense could go south in a hurry. If the Dream want to win this game, Reese has to use her strength to get to the right spot, and she has to figure out how to do that while also improving her touch. This really is about a bad of a matchup as possible for Reese, and while one way to fight against that is to play more as a playmaker and get the ball to the outside shooters, the team also isn't very great at outside shooting, so Reese will inevitably be forced to score inside at some point against this defense. Can she do it?
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