Angel Reese draws criticism after getting ‘dominated’ by opponent in loss

Atlanta Dream superstar forward Angel Reese has struggled on the offensive side of the ball throughout her career, but she has always been a strong defender. In fact, she was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Unrivaled three-on-three basketball league during the WNBA offseason. However, she did not have a strong defensive performance on Wednesday night.

After Reese talked up the Dream for having the top record in the WNBA, Atlanta promptly lost that designation as they fell 96-81 to the Minnesota Lynx, giving the Lynx the top record in the league.

While Reese had a relatively strong game despite the loss, scoring 10 points while leading the team with eight rebounds and five assists, she did struggle consistently on the defensive side of the ball, especially when she was defending Lynx star Natasha Howard.

Howard had an absolutely dominant performance in the post, where she was primarily guarded by Reese, putting up 22 points in the game on a 11-for-16 shooting performance from the field. Reese had a had time staying in front of Howard on  and especially struggled defending Howard on the pick and roll, and fans certainly took notice as Reese faced heavy criticism on social media.

“Angel Reese is getting sliced and diced by Natasha in pick and roll oh my. Too easy. That’s DPOY though, right?” one fan wrote in a post on X.

“Natasha Howard is absolutely cooking Angel Reese,” someone else added.

“Angel was getting demolished in pick and roll, Howard dominated her up and down the court,” commented another fan.

“Howard taking Angel Reese to school. I thought she played defense,” another fan wrote.

“Natasha Howard is having her way with Angel Reese,” someone else commented.

“Angel Reese is getting blown by every play and can’t make it up the court. Natasha Howard of all people is gassing her,” another fan wrote.

Reese often struggles on the offensive side of the ball with both her shooting and her turnover issues, but she is typically a strong defender. We’ll have to see whether or not this game was an anomaly or if this will be a point of concern for Reese going forward.