The first three times the Atlanta Dream made the WNBA Finals, they were swept. Their trip this season was even more heartbreaking. They led the 2026 WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries 2-1, and the Dream led Game 7 by nine in the second half falling short to Gabby Williams and the second-year franchise on Saturday night.
The Dream's four losses in the Finals are tied for the second-most in WNBA history, and the Connecticut Sun is the only other franchise to make the Finals at least four times without winning a championship. Now that the Sun have folded and the Houston Comets have been reborn, the only active franchises besides the Dream without a title are the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, who joined as expansion clubs in 2026. While the Dream's season ultimately ended in disappointment, there were a ton of positives.
The Dream tied a franchise record with 30 wins, finished in the top five in offensive, defensive and net rating, made it out of the first round for the first time since 2018 and made it to the Finals for the first time since 2013. "We've won a lot of great games, and to come all the way to the Finals with this group, I mean, it says a lot," star forward Angel Reese said after Game 7. "And not a lot of people have this opportunity to do it, and like I said, I'd do it all over again with this same group and just battling with them every single day.
I love these girls and I love these coaches." After three consecutive first-round exits, the Dream traded for Reese in the offseason with the hope that she would be the catalyst that turned them into a true title contender. Reese got off to a slow start in Atlanta, and a five-game losing streak in late June and early July -- which included three defeats to the Valkyries -- left the Dream at just 12-9 near the midpoint of the season. And after Reese missed a potential game-winning layup against the Indiana Fever in mid-August, the Dream were stuck in fifth place and in danger of not even getting home-court advantage in the playoffs.
That turned out to be an inflection point, however. Reese averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals on 56.3% shooting the rest of the way, and the Dream closed the regular season on a 9-1 run to earn the No. 4 seed. Reese continued to excel in the playoffs.
With Allisha Gray sidelined for the majority of the semifinals against the New York Liberty, and Rhyne Howard mired in a miserable shooting slump, Reese took over the primary scoring responsibilities to lead the team to the Finals. In Game 2 of the Finals, she delivered the best performance of her career: 30 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks to even the series at 1-1 and join Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones as the only players in Finals history with a 30-point, 15-rebound game. She followed that up with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three steals in Game 2 to give the Dream a 2-1 lead and join A'ja Wilson as the only players in Finals history with back-to-back 20-point, 10-rebound games.
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