Allisha Gray scored a game-high 27 points to help the Atlanta Dream post a 75-73 victory over the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Thursday in College Park, Ga.
Rhyne Howard added 16 points for the Dream (23-13), who have won eight of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. Atlanta trails Minnesota by 5 1/2 games for the league’s best record.
Bridget Carleton paced the Lynx (28-7) with 16 points. Jessica Shepard had 15 points and 16 rebounds, while Kayla McBride also chipped in 15 points for Minnesota, which lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. Alanna Smith added 10 points and Courtney Williams led the team with nine assists.
Trailing by six entering the fourth, Atlanta scored the first 12 points of the final quarter, taking a 66-60 lead on Te-Hina Paopao’s triple.
Howard’s second 3-pointer later gave the Dream a five-point advantage at the 1:32 mark, before Smith answered with a triple to pull the Lynx within two. After an Atlanta turnover, Gray rebounded Smith’s missed layup and Maya Caldwell knocked down a pair of free throws to give Atlanta a 75-71 lead with 22.4 seconds remaining.
Shepard’s layup then cut Minnesota’s deficit in half, before Atlanta committed its second eight-second violation in the final minute. Ultimately, the Lynx weren’t able to get a shot off at the buzzer en route to a rare loss.
Leading by two points at halftime, Atlanta began the third quarter on a 6-0 run to jump out to a 48-40 advantage. Layups from Williams and Smith were then followed by McBride’s triple to pull the Lynx’s deficit to a point with 7:20 left in the third.
After Brionna Jones’ layup gave Atlanta a 52-47 lead, Minnesota finished the quarter on a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead into the fourth.
After falling behind by nine points early, Atlanta finished the opening quarter on a 10-0 run – including four points each from Brittney Griner and Howard – to grab a 25-24 edge entering the second quarter.
A string of Atlanta triples from Caldwell, Paopao and Gray extended Atlanta’s lead to 42-32 with 3:58 remaining in the second quarter, before McBride and Smith’s layups were followed by Shepard’s consecutive baskets to help the Lynx trim their halftime deficit to 42-40.
-Field Level Media
