Angel Reese Never Scored Over 15 Points Again After Taunting Golden State In Game 3

After putting up 21 points and 12 rebounds and directing a celebration at Aminata Gueye in Game 3, Angel Reese never scored more than 15 points in any of the final four games of the series as Golden State rallied to win Game 7.

That third contest was supposed to be the defining breakthrough for the Atlanta Dream.

Atlanta secured a hard-fought 68-63 victory on that night to seize a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven WNBA Finals.

Reese dominated the paint during that game, pulling down boards and scoring at will around the rim.

Her performance placed Atlanta within two wins of lifting the championship trophy.

Yet the moment that came to define the entire series occurred away from the score sheet.

Following the final whistle of Game 3, Reese directed the widely recognized "too small" hand gesture directly toward the Golden State Valkyries' bench.

The taunt specifically targeted Valkyries forward Aminata Gueye.

Gueye had spent large stretches of the series serving as the primary defender on Reese.

The two forwards had spent multiple quarters trading physical contact and verbal exchanges beneath the basket.

When Atlanta closed out the five-point win, Reese made sure the Golden State sideline saw her celebration.

At the time, the Dream appeared to carry all the momentum in the championship showdown.

Then the entire rhythm of the Finals shifted.

THE SHUTDOWN BEGINS

Golden State faced an immediate crossroads heading into Game 4.

Trailing 2-1 in a championship series forces any coaching staff to reconsider its defensive schemes.

Whatever defensive adjustments the Valkyries implemented immediately altered Reese's productivity on the floor.

Over the next four games, the Atlanta forward could not regain her Game 3 dominance.

Reese failed to surpass 15 points in Game 4.

She was held under 15 points again in Game 5 as the series intensified.

The trend continued through Game 6, preventing Atlanta from finding the offensive surge it needed to close out the series.

By the time Game 7 arrived, Golden State had completely recalibrated its interior defense.

Reese was restricted to under 15 points for the fourth consecutive outing.

The offensive ceiling that Atlanta relied on in the early rounds suddenly disappeared.

Golden State capitalized on the scoring drought, grinding out the final victories required to complete the comeback.

When the final horn sounded in Game 7, the Valkyries had captured their first-ever WNBA championship.

LOCKER ROOM RECEIPTS

The Valkyries made sure to show that Reese's Game 3 gesture had not been forgotten.

Championship locker rooms often feature celebrations, but Golden State immediately revisited the taunt.

On Saturday night, mere moments after securing the title, Gueye took to social media.

Gueye posted a photo on Instagram showing Reese’s hand frozen mid-taunt from Game 3.

The image served as immediate proof that the sideline gesture had lingered in Golden State’s minds.

Guard Tiffany Hayes joined in on the response during a live stream from inside the locker room.

Hayes looked into the camera during the broadcast and flashed the exact same "too small" gesture while teammates celebrated around her.

Golden State players openly relished turning the taunt back on the player who had delivered it.

The psychological battle that ignited in Game 3 had fully unraveled across the final four games of the Finals.

PARADE TROLLING ALONG THE EMBARCADERO

The retaliation did not stop inside the locker room on Saturday night.

By Wednesday, the celebration shifted to the streets of San Francisco for the official championship parade.

Thousands of supporters dressed in lavender gathered along the Embarcadero to celebrate their new champions.

Fans stood several rows deep, with crowds reaching ten deep in several prime locations.

The team arrived by ferry across the bay before boarding open parade vehicles.

As the buses rolled through the city, cameras quickly caught multiple Valkyries staff members wearing custom T-shirts.

The shirts displayed Reese's face morphed onto the infamous crying Michael Jordan meme.

Printed alongside the crying meme was Reese's "too small" hand gesture.

Former Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli was spotted aboard one of the parade buses holding up the exact same shirt for the crowd.

Fans along the parade route also documented another coordinated troll directed at Atlanta.

Photographs shared by attendees showed pink pacifiers being handed out along the Embarcadero.

Each pacifier featured a small paper tag carrying the crying meme face.

The attached tag read: "if found return to: ATL."

A fan who posted the photo confirmed that the items were being actively distributed during the parade route.

The mocking displays confirmed that the franchise viewed the Game 3 gesture as a major turning point.

DEFYING THE ANALYTICS

Reese was not the only party that found itself targeted during the victory parade.

Valkyries veteran center Kiah Stokes stepped off the ferry wearing a shirt designed to mock national media predictions.

Stokes’ shirt featured an ESPN title-odds chart published in late July.

That midseason graphic had ranked the Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Atlanta Dream as the five top contenders for the championship.

The graphic gave the Fever a 24 percent chance to win the title.

It assigned the Aces a 23 percent probability.

Golden State was ranked sixth at the time, leaving the team entirely off the visual list.

The skepticism toward the Valkyries was understandable based on their midseason form.

At the midpoint of the regular season, Golden State held a modest 10-7 record.

The team had also posted an uninspiring 3-6 record against playoff-bound opponents.

Furthermore, the Valkyries operated without an undisputed single superstar.

Golden State would eventually finish the campaign without a single player named to an All-WNBA team.