Isobel Borlase turned a quiet start into a louder answer in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, finishing with 12 points after giving the Atlanta Dream a defensive lift in Game 2. That kind of rise matters now because the Dream are two wins away from winning the WNBA Finals and have controlled the past two games of the series.
The search around Borlase is obvious: she has gone from a rookie whose flashes have been noticed all season to one of the names helping drive the Dream’s run. In Game 2, she finished without a shot going in but still added a block and a steal. In Game 3, she was no longer just a support piece on defense. She gave Atlanta another scoring option at a time when every extra possession matters.
That is the weight of her week. Borlase did not need a long offensive runway to matter, and Atlanta did not need to wait for a perfect night to keep leaning on her. The Dream have gotten help from several players on both ends, with Angel Reese, Jordin Canada, DeWanna Bonner and Rhyne Howard all stepping up in different ways, but Borlase’s back-to-back impact stands out because it came from a rookie still being lifted by the team around her.
The swing from Game 2 to Game 3 also shows what can happen when the offense changes shape around a young player. In Game 2, Borlase’s value came from activity without points. In Game 3, she found a way into the scoring in a game where the Dream were already dictating terms. That shift did not erase the defensive work from the previous night. It made it part of a broader performance, one that showed Atlanta can keep finding production from different places as the Finals tighten.
That is why Borlase matters beyond one box score. The Dream are not winning only because one star is carrying them. They are winning because the minutes keep producing answers, and because a player like Borlase can go from a scoreless night to 12 points without changing the larger story. Two more wins would finish the job, and Atlanta now has another young contributor who has already shown she can move with the series instead of waiting for it to move to her.
