Smesko criticizes officiating after Dream fall behind in WNBA Finals

Atlanta Dream coach Karl Smesko criticized the officiating after Monday night's 64-55 defeat to the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, arguing that officials repeatedly overlooked contact against center Angel Reese. The Game 5 loss left Atlanta facing a 3-2 deficit in the WNBA Finals.

Smesko acknowledged Golden State's defensive performance but said Reese was receiving different treatment when it came to physical contact. He described the disparity as "ridiculous" and also questioned what he considered missed traveling and double-dribble violations by the Valkyries. "You can't be at this level and make that many mistakes," he said.

Reese scored seven points, making two of eight shots from the field and three of four free throws, while being assessed four personal fouls. She said dealing with physical play had been a challenge throughout the season and expressed frustration over contact involving her teammates. She also questioned offensive foul calls against her when turning toward the basket against smaller opponents, saying she had been pushed beforehand.

The performance followed an eight-point outing in Game 4, when Reese shot 2-of-12 from the field, converted four of six free throws and picked up four fouls. For the first time in her career, across regular-season and playoff games, she has made no more than two field goals in consecutive appearances. It was also only her second stretch of consecutive single-digit scoring games, with the previous instance coming in 2024.

Reese said she noticed a change in the officiating during Game 4, after Atlanta had moved ahead 2-1 in the series. The Dream attempted 116 free throws over the first four games, an average of 29 per contest. According to ESPN Insights, their run of at least 25 attempts in Games 2, 3 and 4 made them the second team in WNBA history to reach that total in three consecutive Finals games.

On Monday, Atlanta made 11 of 14 free throws. Those 14 attempts were the team's lowest total of the postseason and tied for its second-lowest total in any game this season. Smesko conceded that missed shots contributed to the defeat, while maintaining that officials needed to call fouls when players were pushed with both hands.

Both teams finished with historically low scoring totals for the Finals. Golden State's 64 points were the fewest by a winning Finals team since the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. Atlanta's 55 were the fewest in a Finals game since the Mercury's total in Game 3 of the 2021 series. The Dream shot 29.2 percent overall, the fourth-lowest mark in a WNBA Finals game, and 23.5 percent in the paint, the worst by any team in a game this postseason.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the physical nature of the contest was expected at this stage of the series. She described both teams as defensively focused and comfortable with contact, adding that Atlanta was well coached and shared Golden State's competitive toughness.