Liberty Ended Angel Reese Double-Double Streak with Justified Defense

Robin Lundberg | Jul 14, 2024

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Everyone has probably seen the clip of the New York Liberty swarming Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese on the baseline in order to prevent her from continuing her historic WNBA double-double streak by now. But this wasn't done because of the scouting report on Angel or any sort of game plan to stop her by the Liberty. It was done because she was trying to finesse her way to the double-double late in the game.

Liberty were NOT letting Angel Reese get that double double they quadruple teamed her pic.twitter.com/zMWydeehpt

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) July 13, 2024

New York was up 14-points at the time with the clock winding down and Reese could be seen clearly calling for the ball in an attempt to get the two points she needed to make it to double-figures. At that point the squad with championship aspirations decided they weren't going to just allow the cheap double-double. Even when Reese passed out of the situation, former league MVP Jonquel Jones shadowed her defensively in a much more spirited manner than one would normally in that spot. But normally your opponent isn't continuing to call for the rock with the game decided. This wasn't the first-time Reese attempted to pad her stats late, as she extended her streak against the Atlanta Dream in a very similar manner, but without the extra defensive attention.

The last shot Angel Reese had for a chance to continue her double double streak. #skytown #DoubleDouble #WNBA pic.twitter.com/k2a99d3E8P

— Erik Taylor (@PhilAPino54) July 13, 2024

Angel did have her opportunities before the game was in hand. However, she was just 3-13 from the field against New York. Finishing has been an issue for Reese so far in her rookie season given she is shooting just over 40% from the floor despite the bulk of her opportunities coming at the basket. Rebounding has not been a problem though, as Angel leads the entire W in that category.

Hopefully the streak ending can be a good thing for Reese and the Sky. It certainly seemed as if it started to become the focus of attention and not how Chicago or Reese actually played. Angel had some awesome games during the run, but they weren't because she statistically recorded a double-double. She also had some games where she struggled, which weren't made better due to an extra point or rebound. The streak had seemed to become a bit of a crutch to use in the Rookie of the Year debate, one that I believe is over.

Regardless, the Liberty did what a competitive team with pride should do and said not on my watch to Angel.