Angel Reese follows DPOY award with four steals against Liberty
Updated October 9, 2026: Removed claims that the Defensive Player of the Year award changed Reese's motivation. The award facts stay linked to the WNBA release.
Three days after she was named Defensive Player of the Year, Angel Reese went out and took the ball from four different New York Liberty players in one playoff game. Four steals, three blocks, 17 points, and the Dream won Game 1 92-82 (ESPN box score). And the play that sealed it wasn't even a bucket of hers. It was the kick-out she threw with 1:30 left.
Reese's line
Her line: 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, 7 rebounds (4 offensive), 4 steals, 3 blocks and 2 assists in 34 minutes, plus-7 (ESPN box score). She even stepped out and hit a 24-foot three in the first quarter.
Four steals against four Liberty players
The steals are the part you have to watch twice. In the second quarter she picked off Marine Johannes, scored on the putback and hit the free throw. In the third she took it from Breanna Stewart at 6:47, took it from Han Xu at 5:49 and scored the other way, then took it from Leonie Fiebich at 4:57 (ESPN play-by-play). That stretch was the middle of a 20-2 Atlanta run that turned a 43-39 deficit into a 59-45 lead.
On the other end she blocked Stewart once and Sabrina Ionescu twice. That's a two-time MVP and an All-Star guard, and she got both.
Winning time
New York cut a 16-point lead to 80-75 with 4:00 left. Reese went right at them. Driving layup at 3:43, and she missed the free throw. Another bucket off a Jordin Canada feed at 2:24 for 84-77. Then, with 1:30 left, she kicked it out to Canada for the three that made it 87-77 (ESPN play-by-play). That's the play that sealed it. Reese drew the defense and gave it up.
Awards fuel her more
Reese's Game 1 performance followed her first Defensive Player of the Year award, announced October 1. Three of her four steals came during the third quarter, when Atlanta turned the game.
Reese led the league at 12.1 rebounds a game, set WNBA single-season records with 521 rebounds, 206 offensive rebounds and 32 double-doubles, and became the first player ever to hit 500 rebounds in a season. She got 46 of the DPOY votes, 26 more than second-place Gabby Williams (WNBA.com). It's the first time a Dream player has won it.
Not perfect
Reese also committed four turnovers and missed two of six free throws (ESPN box score). Those were the limits of a productive night: her defense helped Atlanta break the game open, and her late scoring helped protect the lead.
Game 2
Atlanta leads 1-0 (ESPN game page). New York committed 21 turnovers in Game 1, four on Reese steals (our Game 1 recap). The Liberty need cleaner possessions to keep her from turning defense into another Atlanta scoring run.
Box score: ESPN.
How this story was made: Ryan Moalemi picked the story and the angle. Full Court Buckets gathers its own game data and verifies it against official box scores. AI tools drafted it from that data and the sources linked above so it could post the same night, then Ryan reviewed and edited it before publishing. How we make Full Court Buckets
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