Chicago knows first-hand how tough it’s been to beat the Atlanta Dream on their home floor this season.
Aiming for a sixth straight home victory, the surging Dream look to take down the Sky for the second time in a little more than a week on Sunday.
Atlanta (9-4) has the league’s fourth-best record while ranking third in scoring (84.9 ppg), making 132 3-pointers and holding opponents to 77.6 points per contest. On Friday, the Dream continued their home success by holding off Washington for a 92-91 victory.
“To finish these (close) games, we’re going to have to be good at both ends for the entire game,” said Dream coach Karl Smesko, whose squad is 5-1 at home.
Atlanta managed to get the job done Friday while using another packed house to its advantage.
“It’s hard (for opponents) playing here,” Atlanta forward Nia Coffey said. “(Opponents) will hear (the fans). We feel the energy.”
The Sky (3-9) experienced that during an 88-70 loss at Atlanta on June 13. The Dream held a 50-31 scoring advantage in the second half. Rhyne Howard set a franchise record for one game with nine 3-pointers made and finished with 36 points.
Though Allisha Gray averages a team-leading 20.2 points, Howard (16.9 ppg) entered play Saturday leading the WNBA with 39 made threes.
Chicago center Kamilla Cardoso scored 15 with nine rebounds at Atlanta last week, and has averaged 15.0 points in the last four games. She scored a team-high 17 during Saturday’s 107-86 home loss to Phoenix — Chicago’s fourth defeat of at least 20 points in 2025.
The Sky shot 52.6 percent from the field, but allowed the Mercury to make a franchise-record 17 3s, and committed 21 turnovers that resulted in 29 points for the visitors. Chicago star Angel Reese, who entered Saturday averaging a league-leading 11.7 rebounds, managed just two and took one shot from the field while scoring nine points.
A loser in five of the last six, Chicago averages a WNBA-worst 18.9 turnovers per game.
“The mentality has to be to be better the next day; to learn from the losses and grow,” Sky forward Elizabeth Williams said.
— Field Level Media
