Dream vs. Sky: Angel Reese Goes for 17 and 17 in Her Chicago Return as Atlanta Wins 82-75

"It was just another basketball game," Angel Reese said. Fine. Then somebody explain the 17 rebounds in the building where she used to work, the bounce pass that flipped the fourth quarter, and the way she walked out of Wintrust Arena on Tuesday night with a win over the team that drafted her.

Reese had 17 points and 17 boards in her first regular-season meeting with her old team, Rhyne Howard scored 17 of her own and added a line to the league's record book, and the Atlanta Dream left town with an 82-75 win over the Chicago Sky. Atlanta is 8-3. Chicago is 4-8 and still hunting for answers at home, where it is now 1-5.

Fifteen Lead Changes and One Very Cold Jump Shot

Atlanta answered an early 3-0 deficit with nine straight points for a 9-3 lead, but this game had no interest in staying anyone's. There were 15 lead changes and 13 ties in all, and the Dream carried just an 18-17 edge out of the first quarter.

The second quarter belonged to the Sky's shooters. Chicago went 4 for 4 from deep in the period, with Skylar Diggins, Rachel Banham and Jacy Sheldon all connecting, and took a 42-39 lead to the break. Atlanta was 2 of 11 from three in the half, and Allisha Gray had two points. That sinks most road teams.

Gray scored seven in the third, Reese grabbed six rebounds, and the Dream erased the deficit before Natasha Cloud's long jumper with 3.5 seconds left made it 58-57 Chicago. Cloud's three opened the fourth with a four-point Sky lead, and for a minute this looked like Chicago's night. It was still a one-point game, 71-70 Atlanta, after her layup with 3:07 left.

Two Stars, Two Different Kinds of History

Reese, drafted No. 7 overall by Chicago in 2024 and traded to Atlanta in April after two seasons, finished 5 of 12 from the field and 6 of 6 at the line, with five offensive rebounds, four assists and a game-high plus-18. The six turnovers were ugly. Everything else was not. It was her second straight game with 17 rebounds and her fourth straight double-double, and the one she locked up with six minutes left in the third was her eighth of the season and 57th of her career. No player in WNBA history has more through 75 games.

Howard's night came in a different flavor. She needed 17 shots for 17 points and went 1 of 10 from three, and she still made history. She passed 2,500 career points, and nobody in WNBA history has reached 2,500 points, 500 boards, 500 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocks at a younger age. Five assists and three steals on the night felt appropriate, given the list.

Naz Hillmon scored 16, Gray rallied to 14 and Jordin Canada had 14 with six assists, which gave Atlanta five starters in double figures and 78 of its 82 points from that group.

For Chicago, Cloud was terrific off the bench with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a 9-of-10 night at the line. Diggins had 17 and hit 4 of 6 from three. Kamilla Cardoso scored 13 on 6-of-7 shooting with five assists and four blocks, and picked up her 1,000th career point along the way.

Reese's Pass, Hillmon's Three

It started with a rebound, naturally. Atlanta was up one with under three minutes left when Hillmon missed a three, Reese tracked it down and the possession reset through a Reese ball screen for Canada. Canada got it to Reese, who looked ready to shoot. She saw Hillmon flashing to the rim instead, slipped a bounce pass, and it was 73-70 with 2:29 left.

Elizabeth Williams was whistled for an offensive foul the next time down, and Hillmon drilled a 26-footer for 76-70. Then came the play Chicago will be replaying all week: Diggins dropped in a floater that would have made it a four-point game with 1:49 left, but a review ruled her elbow caught Canada on the way up, and the basket came off as an offensive foul. Reese grabbed another offensive board, Gray laid it in for 78-70, and Reese finished the 9-0 run herself at 80-70. Three of her four assists came in the final 2:29.

Stats That Matter

• 5 of 26: Atlanta's three-point shooting, a 19.2% night, against 8 of 15 for Chicago. Normally, that is a loss.
• 36-25: Atlanta's rebounding edge, including 12 offensive boards that became 17 second-chance points.
• 48-26: The Dream's advantage in the paint, which is how you survive a night like that from deep.
• 25-19: Atlanta's edge in points off turnovers, on a night when neither team took great care of the ball.
• 28-4: Chicago's bench scoring edge. The Sky also blocked seven shots to Atlanta's none, and won plenty of categories that do not count.

"They shot better than us, so we had to win possessions," Dream coach Karl Smesko said. "That's how we did it today."

What It Means

Atlanta has won two straight and four of five, sits at 8-3 with a 4-2 road record and moved to 3-1 in Commissioner's Cup play. New York comes to town on Thursday. Chicago has lost two straight and seven of eight, and the next stop is Thursday in Indiana.

She Skipped the Diss Track

"I have a lot of love for Chicago, because I did have a great time here," Reese said. "The fans have still embraced me, and so many people still have Chicago jerseys of mine, and some Atlanta jerseys, and they show a lot of support." Every ex-team reunion wants a Taylor Swift bridge, the part where the whole arena holds its breath and somebody gets dragged. Reese declined to write one. She sent a box score instead: 17 points, 17 rebounds, one win. Some breakups do not need lyrics.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press. Postgame quotes and team notes from the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky.