In a showdown between the Eastern Conference’s top two teams, the Atlanta Dream fell short against the NY Liberty. Angel Reese and co. suffered a 14-point defeat, ending their two-game winning streak on Thursday. But more than the loss, it was Reese’s on-court antics toward Breanna Stewart that had the hoops community talking.

The moment occurred in the third quarter, when the Liberty led 56-54. Reese was in a perfect position to score from the paint, as she had done all night. Meanwhile, Stewie was trying to guard her and hold her off from behind. But none of it mattered as the Dream forward turned left swiftly to score a layup over Stewart and tie the game at 56-56. Reese followed the layup with her trademark “too small” gesture as she headed back on defense.

ESPNW took to their Instagram to even share this entire sequence of play. “Angel Reese hit Stewie with a ‘too small’ 🤏,” the caption of the post read.

Angel Reese dominated the night with a season-high 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. She finished 11-of-22 from the field, but it still wasn’t enough to prevent her team from falling 104-90 to the Liberty, who knew containing Reese completely would be a tall task and instead focused on limiting Atlanta’s perimeter shooting.

“Reese is tough on the glass and our game plan was to try to keep the three out, and we did that. Our effort — I know we have turnovers — but it’s been incredible. We can live with mistakes if we’re playing as hard as we are,” were the words of Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco after the game, as shared by reporter Myles Ehrlich on X.

Even Satou Sabally acknowledged how difficult it was to slow down the Bayou Barbie. “We’re long, we’re battling down there. Holding a great player like Angel Reese to only nine rebounds … that’s a big point, but every one [of us] was just crashing and relying on each other,” Sabally said, as per ClutchPoints. 

But unfortunately for Angel Reese, despite her season-high performance, it was her gesture toward Breanna Stewart that once again became the talking point among the hoops community, even though the emotions behind the celebration were easy to understand.

After all, Reese’s two-pointer helped Atlanta erase a seven-point deficit they had entered the third quarter with. Furthermore, the celebration has become a recurring part of the Bayou Barbie’s game this season.

Even in the fourth quarter, Reese made a similar “too small” gesture towards rookie Pauline Astier, as per USA Today. In fact, the Atlanta forward was aggressive throughout the game and even accumulated five personal fouls. We even saw her gesture during the Atlanta Dream-Dallas Wings game, when Reese gestured towards Odyssey Sims.

But given the circumstances and the game’s results, many netizens felt the gesture wasn’t fitting. And, quite naturally, they didn’t mince their words when sharing their perspectives.

Fans Emphasize the Picture of the Game While Rallying Against Angel Reese’s Gesture

“They lost chill,” a fan wrote.

“Just goes to show you how ignorant she is. Everything she does is for attention. I love when somebody’s losing, and they try showing off. Typical of her,” stated another.

Without a doubt, Angel Reese had the best scoring night of her season in this game. And doing it against a stacked frontcourt of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Satou Sabally is never easy. Thus, her performance, of course, deserves the props. Yet Reese herself was far from satisfied.

“I really wanted this one bad because I knew how much it meant for our standings in the Commissioner’s Cup,” Reese said as per CBS News. “It was just frustrating because I think I could’ve done better, especially at the free-throw line and on ball screens. I’m just going to look back at film and clean it up.”

And her frustration was understandable. Despite Reese’s big night, the Dream were outplayed by the Liberty, who shot 54% from the field and 52% from three-point range. The result ultimately overshadowed what was otherwise one of the strongest individual performances of Reese’s season.

“She just be throwing the ball up lol,” remarked another netizen.

“So corny man. Stop this celebration bruh,” chimed in another.

Some fans even pinpointed Reese’s performance while criticizing her gesture. Despite her season-best scoring night, the Bayou Barbie did miss 11 times from the field and even missed all of her three-pointer attempts.

“Stewart should have hit her with the same ring point to her finger she did to Caitlin,” shared a fan.

Another fan took a trip down memory lane to the 2023 NCAA Championship finals when Reese gestured to Caitlin Clark with a “ring finger” celebration after winning the game. The fan even felt it would be fitting if Breanna Stewart made the same gesture towards Reese to humble her after winning the game.

The NY Liberty veteran even had a stellar performance in her team’s win. Stewie scored 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists to anchor her team to a sixth consecutive W this season. Meanwhile, Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream will need to move to the drawing board quickly.

The game exposed several flaws that they had never faced before this season. They were massively outrebounded, 40-24, in the game. Furthermore, they struggled on defense throughout the game, allowing Liberty to shoot over 50% from the field. And if that wasn’t enough, they also missed 12 free throws.

Angel Reese’s, Allisha Gray’s (18 points), and Rhyne Howard’s (24 points) individual performances were definite silver linings for the Dream. But one key moment ultimately swung the momentum away from Atlanta. 

In the fourth quarter, Reese drove coast-to-coast and appeared to convert a layup, only for a coach’s challenge to overturn the call and result in both an offensive foul and a technical foul. This came at a time when Atlanta was on a 5-0 run and looking to erase the 16-point deficit it had entered the fourth quarter with, and the sequence changed everything, something even head coach Karl Smesko later acknowledged.

“We had some goals coming into the fourth quarter, we were going to get it down to eight by the four-minute mark,” Smesko said as per CBS News. “We were on our way, but that call was definitely a setback. We lose two points on the layup, we lose the free throw, they get to go to the other end. That was a tough situation. We never really got to make another serious push at it, but we were competing and trying to get back into it.”

They are still 8-4 on the season, sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta faces the NY Liberty up next on June 14 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.