Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream have just fired a warning shot to anybody thinking that they would be an easy pick in the playoffs. In their first outing since the regular season play resumed after the World Cup break, Reese and Co. have dismantled the Connecticut Sun 103-59 on Thursday, as the Dream forward extended her double-double record.

The Gateway Center Arena witnessed another WNBA record in the making as Reese scored her 30th double-double of the season. She finished the night with a game-high 30 points, shooting 11-0f-14 from the field, and added 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks as well. Reese made an emphatic statement after the win.

“I was ready to get back. Being back home, being with Atlanta, being with my team. I mean, I enjoy getting a gold medal at USA and enjoying my time there, but this is home. I gotta leave a taste in everybody about what the playoffs are gonna look like, so it was only right for me to come out and set the tone,” Reese told reporters per an espnW clip on Instagram.

Angel Reese is now at the top of the single-season double-double record list, with 30. She is beating out players such as Alyssa Thomas, who made 28 double-doubles in 2023. Reese is averaging a career-high 16.1 points heading into the game. She came in hot early in the game, scoring 19 of her 30 points in the first half of the game itself. She scored her 30th point off a free throw with around 5:38 left on the clock, and added her 10th rebound just a few seconds later. Reese was just one point shy of matching her career-high points total.

Angel Reese’s historic performance comes just after she dominated the court alongside Team USA at the 2026 FIBA World Cup. She was a part of the squad that won the tournament with a clean 6-0 record, leading the team in blocks per game, with 0.8. She was also second on the list of steals, behind only fellow Dream teammate Rhyne Howard.

And Angel Reese was not the only Atlanta Dream player setting a WNBA record in the game.

While only converting one of her nine three-point attempts, Howard set a WNBA record for most three-pointers in a season, at 129. With 6:45 left in the fourth quarter, she made the shot that eclipsed Sabrina Ionescu’s record that was set in 2023. Howard accomplished the feat in just 40 games.

This display against the Connecticut Sun was not a one-off performance for Reese.

She has been in fine form this season. The rebounding machine has already set the WNBA Single-Game Rebounds Record, when she grabbed 26 rebounds against the Los Angeles Sparks on August 25, breaking Chamique Holdsclaw’s 23-year-old record of 24.

Reese has also surpassed A’ja Wilson’s single-season rebound record by raising her total to 485.

Angel Reese is leading Atlanta’s postseason charge this season. She is averaging a league-leading 12.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game this season, playing 39 games. The Dream might as well put her up for their MVP bid this season, with even former WNBA star Tina Thompson backing the cause on the Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady podcast.

“I also think that Angel needs to be in that conversation [for MVP]…What she brings is impactful. What Angel Reese does, it impacts winning. And it doesn’t necessarily mean scoring … I like that she’s taken a different route to impact the game. That she’s not just kind of fixated on scoring.”

Having already booked a playoff berth, Atlanta can finish as high as third if they win all their remaining games and certain results go their way.

The Dream, at 27-14, is locked in a battle for the fourth seed with the Indiana Fever and, judging by their current form, may even challenge the Aces for the third seed.