Angel Reese Blames Referees for Defeat vs Fever as She Defends Foul on Caitlin Clark: “I Can’t Control the Refs”

The Gainbridge is no longer the Painbridge turf for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. Rookie of the Month and Rookie of the Year combined for 42 points, 22 rebounds, 13 assists, and 7 blocks. Clark and Aliyah Boston dominated the Chicago Sky thus earning a back-to-back victory for the first time this season. But it seems the home court advantage played a bit more in Clark’s hand as her rival Angel Reese has spoken against the referee’s decision. During the game, a foul by Reese was upgraded to flagrant by the officials.

The first and the third quarters belonged to Sky in terms of points while the Fever closed out the game with decisive leads in the second and fourth quarters. The game was poised at 63-62  in favor of Fever when Reese tried blocking a shot from Clark. It was nearly a clothesline-type move that hit Fever Rookie just above her ear and she fell to the ground. The impact might be considered severe since Reese was behind Clark when she was in the air.

Nicole Auerbach, the senior writer at the Athletic reported Reese’s response on the refs decision. “Angel Reese on the foul that got upgraded to a Flagrant 1: ‘It was a basketball play. I can’t control the refs. They affected the game obviously a lot today.’ Reese added, “I’m always going for the ball. Y’all are going to play that clip 20 times before Monday.”

Angel Reese’s assessment of the foul might not be true but she very well understands that the clip will be broadcast multiple times. Even the fans seemed divided on the call and wondered if it was a genuine attempt to block, or was intentional. But there was no doubt in anybody’s mind regarding the performance of the Rookies.

Angel Reese and Sky fall short once again

Caitlin Clark scored a game-high 23 points and 9 assists. She was also very close to a triple-double as she also got 8 rebounds. When asked about the foul and what was going on in her mind, Clark once again did not add any fuel to the fire. “What’s going through my mind? I need to make these two free throws. That’s all I’m thinking about. It’s just part of basketball. It is what it is,” Clark said.

“She’s trying to make a play on the ball, and get the block. It happens.” Even though Clark did not throw any shade toward Angel Reese, the Sky forward did not return the favor. After her team-high rebound score of 13, she continued her double-double streak. The streak now stands at 6 games with Reese also contributing with 11 points and 5 assists. During the press conference, she made another remark probably at the refs or the Indiana team.

“I think we went up strong a lot of times and we didn’t get a lot of calls. And going back and looking at the film, I saw a lot of calls that weren’t made. I guess some people got a special whistle but just being able to play hard as best as we can.” Angel Reese also gave a special mention to her rookie teammate Kamilla Cardoso as she ended the game with her first double-double. Cardoso scored 10 points and 10 rebounds and is slowly coming back to her form after missing a few games at the start of the season due to injury.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.