After suffering their first loss of the season against the Aces last Sunday, the Atlanta Dream(3-1) returned to action on Friday night at home against the Dallas Wings(3-3), and they got back All-Star forward Rhyne Howard, who made a big difference.
Howard, who missed Sunday’s loss against the Aces with a concussion, had a game-high 25 points, to go along with four rebounds, eight assists, and four steals, and Angel Reese added 15 points and nine rebounds as the Dream defeated the Wings 86-69.
The Dream, who defeated the Wings 10 days ago in Dallas, led for most of the game on Friday, taking a 19-9 lead after one quarter; they led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and Atlanta led 44-31 at halftime. Late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, Dallas went on a 10-3 run to take their first lead of the game at 64-63 with 7:35 left in the game. However, the Dream would close the contest on a 23-5 run, and Atlanta had their largest lead of the game at 19 points.
The Dream did a great job on defense. They held the Wings scoreless for the first 6:13 of tonight’s game, marking one of the longest stretches to open a game without allowing a point in WNBA history. In addition, the Dream did a great job of limiting last season’s Rookie of the Year and Wings leading scorer, Paige Bueckers, who had only seven points and seven assists on 3/13 shooting from the field.
Dream head coach Karl Smesko was happy with the team’s overall defensive effort.
“I thought the defensive effort was outstanding,” Smesko said. “There were stretches in that game where that’s about as high-level a defense as you’re going to see.”
The Wings, who shot only 38% from the field, were led by Awak Kuier, who had 16 points off the bench, and Odyssey Sims added 14 points and five assists.
Atlanta returns to action on Sunday when they host the Phoenix Mercury, while the Wings conclude their three-game road trip on Sunday against the New York Liberty.
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