Angel Reese Says Missed Layup Cost Her Sleep After Fever's 95-91 OT Win

Q: Was Caitlin Clark's viral smirk a calculated taunt, or did the internet completely misread a split-second reaction?

It was most likely a fleeting in-game reaction, not a clearly provable calculated taunt. What is actually known is limited. The ESPN broadcast caught Caitlin Clark walking behind Angel Reese just after Reese missed a potential game-winning putback in a tied game. Clark appeared to smirk for a split second, and that image spread instantly online. There is no public quote from Clark saying she meant it as a message to Reese, and no reporting here shows any direct confrontation tied to that moment. The context makes a spontaneous reaction plausible. It came at the end of a chaotic possession with three Atlanta misses, in a high-pressure game with playoff implications, and Clark had just watched the Fever escape a major threat. Players often show brief facial reactions in those moments without intending them to become statements. The same reporting also notes that Clark herself had recently been on the other side of late-game frustration after missed free throws against Las Vegas. At the same time, the internet did not invent the image. The smirk was real enough on camera, and because Clark and Reese already carry a long-running, heavily watched rivalry narrative, viewers naturally read more into it. Analysts such as Rachel DeMita described it as funny and meme-worthy rather than serious or inflammatory. So the strongest evidence supports this: Clark’s expression was real, but claims that it was a deliberate taunt go beyond what can be proved from a split-second clip alone.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 19

Angel Reese said she "didn’t sleep" after missing a potential game-winning layup with Atlanta tied 81-81 against Indiana on Sunday, a miss that sent the game to overtime.
95-91 was the final score as Caitlin Clark’s Fever pulled away in OT, overshadowing Reese’s 15-point, 14-rebound double-double and fueling another round of scrutiny over her finishing at the rim.
Tuesday’s 97-82 win over Las Vegas gave Reese a quick response point; she said she did not want one play to outweigh the positives and focused on her defensive impact against A'ja Wilson.
12 rebounds per game still lead the WNBA for Reese this season, and her 24 double-doubles in 34 games underline how one late miss has drawn outsized attention—amplified by Clark’s viral on-camera smirk.