Angel Reese is fresh off helping lead Team USA to a gold medal finish at the 2026 FIBA World Cup, and she's also playing her best basketball so far this season. And that's saying something, because Reese has had a very strong 2026 season and demonstrated exactly why the Dream brought her down to Atlanta from the Chicago Sky.
Reese is also set to make the playoffs for the first time in her professional basketball career. She and the Atlanta Dream have made it into the first round of games, and have the potential to go far. If Reese keeps playing like she has been, she will be at the forefront of the team's push.
Of all the players heading into the playoffs, Reese is among those who have the most the prove. It's not that she has to prove something in terms of her talent, which is clearly massive — but the playoffs may be seen as a kind of referendum on her season with the Dream, which came after two troubled seasons with the Chicago Sky. The more Reese performs well, the more it becomes clear that she's fully aligned with what's best for herself professionally.
The Dream may also be heading into the playoffs with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder. The team was pushed out of contention last season by the Indiana Fever after a series of tough games, and it's very likely they will want to make a strong stand this time around. That reality was especially tough to swallow because the Dream had the advantage — the Fever played without several key members of the team and were a lower seed than Atlanta.
It's also beginning to look like the Fever and the Dream may once again face each other in the first round this year. Though one of the teams could potentially move up to the third place spot in the standings, they're sitting at fourth and fifth. Should they be seeded at those spots, they'll meet one another yet again. This time around, things could go very differently for Atlanta, and Reese would be a big part of the reason why.
Reese's 30 points during the team's match against the Connecticut Sun this week gave the Dream the exact post-World Cup reset they needed, and it also proved she isn't going to slow down just because the season is almost finish. If anything, she might be speeding up — and that's something that is happening at the best possible time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google