WNBA FINALS: DREAM VS. VALKYRIES

October 21, 2026

Karl Smesko

Angel Reese

Naz Hillmon

Atlanta Dream

Game 3: Postgame

Atlanta Dream 79, Golden State Valkyries 71

Q. Angel, take me through not just the way y'all played tonight but this energy from this crowd tonight. What was it like to be out there on the court and playing with this type of energy?

ANGEL REESE: Man, our fans showed up, like they showed up in every single possession. Like I thought Ballhalla was loud. Atlanta, you all came out, on Wednesday, on a school night, they have to work tomorrow. I appreciate y'all for coming out and supporting us and being loud on every single possession and cheering and being super consistent. Y'all got to work -- Saturday, running back, I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You had a moment at the end of the game --

ANGEL REESE: Yeah, her words, I can't share, but she just kept telling me to go get it, don't stop and just two more. I won a championship with her, and I remember how that felt. And being able to do it with this group is going to feel even more special.

Q. Naz, we talked earlier pregame about matching Angel's energy, and you mentioned it was hard to do. And I think, correct me if I'm wrong, she set the tone early and you guys followed. Is that what you guys felt? And Karl, if you want to chime in on the energy, that would be great.

NAZ HILLMON: Absolutely, I said time and time again, Angel shows up every game. Some people only show up in big games, but she's consistent with that and she brings her teammates along, and that's exactly what happened today. We even had a lull in the third quarter, who was there getting a stop, getting a stop in transition? It was Angel. We definitely follow suit, but she definitely starts us off.

Q. When did you feel, not just for you, the entire offense, was going to have one of those days where it's finally clicking and shots were falling?

ANGEL REESE: Yeah, we had two rough games and we still were able to pull one out last game not really shooting great. But I knew it was coming, especially back home, you feel the environment. They are cheering every possession defensively and it just led to offense. The crowd really poured into us. It feels good to be home on your own court and you seeing the bag connect that you shoot on every single day.

I'm really happy with this group. Everybody contributed from top to bottom just being able to be there and make shots at the right time. And when you can shoot 49 percent, I mean, you win games.

Q. Every game has its own identity. Curious, what are you most proud of with your team after tonight's win?

KARL SMESKO: I'm most proud of the second half because the first few possessions were a little sloppy. I was really close to using a time-out but they pulled together on their own and got it worked out. Cleaned it up themselves. They knew what mistakes they were making. They huddled up and they started making plays. The crowd started getting behind it, and one play after another. Excited for how a lot of our players played today, and also, we had the realization that we're only halfway home. This is two wins. You have to get four.

This is a great day. Thank everybody in Atlanta for all the support. It's meant the world, and we are going to need it going forward.

Q. This is the first time you've taken a 2-1 lead in this series. How do you keep that hungry mindset going forward into the next games here?

KARL SMESKO: Because you want to finish the job. You want to finish it. These are two great teams going at it, competing at a high level, and only one of us get to be champions. So that should be enough motivation for everybody.

Q. How have you grown as a leader this year? And for Karl and Naz, how have you seen her grow? Tonight everybody was feeding off you.

ANGEL REESE: Trying to show up every single day and be consistent for the team. No matter if my shots are falling, I just want to make sure I bring energy, and hopefully I can say the same, but every day I just want to be able to come in every day and pour into everybody, bring the energy, bring the morale because I think it's contagious.

When you have a mentality starting from me where I'm hype all the time and bringing the confidence into everybody, like y'all not taking this from us. In my heart, I'm not letting you take this from us and it becomes contagious on the team. They feel confident, too. That's been my mindset throughout the entire season, just being able to want it more than anybody else.

Q. Naz, just the threes you and Angel hit tonight were big. How important was that to stretch the lead out? And in the third quarter, you have outscored them in the third quarter. What is it about that third quarter where you take control and do what you've been doing?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I think our threes were huge, very timely, but also I think they helped to open up our teammates. Once we are knocking them down, you can't continue to help into the paint, bring it to Angel or bring it to Rhyne or Lish or crop the paint for Jordin. Definitely opened up, things we've been working on all year long, and nice to see them fall tonight.

ANGEL REESE: We were talking about our second half surge. We want to be the best third quarter team coming out at halftime because I think that takes the confidence and puts them away, and trying to do it in four-minute segments, four minutes at a time. Coach harps on that a lot. We didn't start great in that third quarter at all, and we finished well, and we know how good Golden State is in the fourth.

Q. I know you've already been singing your praises, but what have you seen out of Izzy, her being a rookie on both ends of the floor in the season and postseason?

ANGEL REESE: Man, her confidence. You can tell she looks fearless. I think it's because she also knows we have her back and we're pouring so much into her. She just continues to trust her work. She puts in the work every single day. She comes in and gets extra shots.

And she said that she wanted to be better defensively, and she has. You can see it. She says she doesn't want to be a liability, and you can tell on the court, like she's continued to step her defense up. You can't iso her easily because she's just there, and she's solid.

I'm just really happy for Izzy. She continues to be that piece that we need.

NAZ HILLMON: She's been huge for us. To that point of her defense, if you go back and watch her, we play Golden State, completely different team for the most part. But she's done a really good job of trusting her work, like Angel said, watching her film and continuing not to make the same mistakes. I think that's what's really helped her be successful at such a young age.

Q. We talked pregame and I asked you about Naz and her contributions that don't show up in the stats sheet. Tonight, 15 points, two boards. Just talk about Naz and evaluate her performance today.

KARL SMESKO: I think she's been fantastic the whole series, the whole playoffs. You know, in the pregame, I talked about how many plays she makes that nobody notices, from creating the spacing or the screen that creates the advantage or the cut that opens up things behind. Defensively her communication and her ball screen defense is elite.

And then today, she caught it, ready to shoot it, knocked it down early, got it going, scored on some cuts. It was just a fantastic game by her.

Q. Atlanta has a history of prominent sports legends like Hank Aaron, Dominique Wilkins, Deion Sanders. Some people on social media are mentioning you amongst the greats of Atlanta's sports leaders. What does that mean to you to be mentioned amongst greats of Atlanta's legends in sports?

ANGEL REESE: Definitely means a lot. I've only been here for six months, so I don't know how y'all can give me that yet, but all right. My goal was to come to Atlanta and win a championship. I think you become one of the greats and you become one of the best when you can win and impact winning. And that's all I wanted to do coming here. Everything else doesn't really matter for me.

We want a championship for the city of Atlanta that has done so much and poured so much into the sports here. That's what's going to feel amazing more than anything.

Q. If you could talk about DB, we could see her coaching on the sidelines, and those pivotal shots in the 30?

NAZ HILLMON: A lot like Angel, she brings that energy every single day. Since she got here, she continues to pour into each and every player. Before Coach comes into the huddle, she's always talking -- speaking of that, the reporter who was pulling us together, it was DB. She's not shy to cuss us out when we need it, but she's also there to continue to pour into each and every one of us, and I think that's huge when you have another coach on the floor.

ANGEL REESE: I agree. (Laughter.)