Angel Reese received her eighth technical foul during the Atlanta Dream’s 101-83 loss to the Portland Fire on Friday and will be suspended for the team’s matchup with the league-leading Minnesota Lynx on Sunday unless it is rescinded by the league. Reese finished Friday’s defeat with 16 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, but shot just 5 of 14 from the field. 

Under WNBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game upon receiving an eighth technical foul during the regular season. The previous limit was seven technicals, but the league increased it to eight last season with the jump to a 44-game schedule. For every two additional technical fouls received, the player or coach will be automatically suspended for an additional game.

Early in the fourth quarter, Reese got tangled up with Fire point guard Carla Leite during a box-out situation. Reese appeared to push down on Leite’s head/neck area, while Leite had her arm wrapped around Reese’s back. As the two started to separate, Reese gave a little shove and was called for a technical. 

If the league does not rescind Reese’s technical, this will be the second consecutive season that she has been suspended for crossing the technical foul threshold. She led the league in technicals last season with eight, and served a one-game suspension in what turned out to be her final campaign with the Chicago Sky. 

Reese now once again leads the league in technicals. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark has also been called for eight technicals this season, but she had her most recent one rescinded by the league, and thus avoided a suspension and still sits at seven. Clark and Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper are both one technical away from suspension. 

Notably, technical foul counts reset after the regular season. 

Most technicals in the WNBA in 2026

Reese would be huge loss vs. Lynx as Dream fight for seeding

If Reese is suspended for Sunday’s game against the Lynx, that would be a major loss for the Dream, who are in a battle for seeding in the middle of the playoff picture. 

Atlanta entered Friday in fourth place, half a game behind the third-place Las Vegas Aces and half a game ahead of the fifth-place Fever. Due to their defeat and the Fever’s win (the Aces will play later on Friday), the Dream have now dropped to fifth place and are just one game up on the sixth-place Washington Mystics, who own the tiebreaker between the clubs. 

Angel Reese makes WNBA history with 26 rebounds in Dream win over Sparks, shattering 23-year-old record

Jack Maloney

Without Reese, who recently set the single-game rebounding record and has been playing some of the best basketball of her career, the Dream would have real trouble beating the Lynx, who are eager to lock up the No. 1 overall seed.