Angel Reese faced off against her former team on Sunday as the Atlanta Dream hosted the Chicago Sky at Gateway Center Arena. After a tightly contested matchup, it was the home team that escaped with a 93-91 win.
Reese, however, was unable to close out the game due to a left leg injury. The three-time All-Star fell to the floor in the fourth quarter after what appeared to be a non-contact injury. The Dream eventually ruled her out for the rest of the contest.
Reese finished with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, an assist, one steal and a block in 20 minutes of action.
Dream Coach Karl Smesko Discusses Angel Reese's Injury
Dream head coach Karl Smesko addressed Reese's situation during his postgame press conference. The 55-year-old coach admitted it was a tough call to keep Reese on the bench after her injury, despite her desire to check back into the game.
"Yeah, it's hard because we're in the timeout," Smesko said. "It seemed like a really long timeout, and there wasn't a lot being said because we were all just looking at Angel. When I was looking at her, it seemed like she was in a lot of pain. She wanted to go out there and keep playing because she's competitive. She wants to win the game.
"That was more of a — I just didn't feel comfortable with it because she looked like she was in a lot of pain. Those are some of the tough decisions that you have to make.
"Angel, the person, is very important to us, and we support her in all situations. I just didn't feel good about putting someone out there that looked like she was in that much pain."
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Smesko also said that he had no update regarding the injury. However, the Dream coach revealed that Reese "was in great spirits celebrating with her teammates" after the win.
"Hopefully I was being overprotective, hopefully," he stressed.
The silver lining for Reese and the Dream is that this was their final game before the All-Star break. This should give the 6-foot-4 forward ample time to rest and recuperate. At this point, she is still expected to head to Chicago for Saturday's All-Star Game.
Atlanta improved to 16-10 after winning its third straight game on Sunday. They remain fifth in the standings.
