The Atlanta Dream are on a roll and look to extend their winning streak to four games when they play at home against the Toronto Tempo Monday night.
Sitting third overall in the league standings, Atlanta (11-4) made it three straight wins with a 113-96 victory over Indiana on Saturday.
The expansion Tempo (8-8) aim to get back above the .500 mark after beating Connecticut 101-97 on Friday.
For Atlanta, Angel Reese continues to play an instrumental role in the team’s success. She became the fastest to 1,000 rebounds in league history in the win over the Fever, grabbing eight boards to go along with 18 points.
Reese averages a league-best 11.9 rebounds per contest and ranks third on the Dream in scoring at 15.3 points per outing.
“I think people don’t realize rebounding is harder than you think,” Reese said. “Defensive rebounds are a little bit more easier, but going in and crashing every single time to get second-chance opportunities on the offensive end. And you can look statistically, they’re not just from my shots. They’re from my teammates.”
Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak with its win over the Sun thanks to a big night from Marina Mabrey, who tied a league record for 3-pointers in a game with nine. She’s the sixth player in WNBA history to make nine in a game and is averaging 19.1 points per game.
Mabrey described her strategy for success.
“I’m locked in the whole time,” Mabrey said. “But there’s defenses out there geared to stop me and to make me give the ball up all the time. I have to look for pockets where they’re relaxed and that’s when I can attack. And my teammates do a really good job of recognizing when they are relaxing and letting me go a little bit rogue to try and find some shots.”
Mabrey’s production is even more critical now with leading scorer Brittney Sykes sidelined after a non-contact injury in Tuesday’s game against Indiana. Sykes is one of the top offensive threats in the WNBA, ranking fifth in the league with 20.1 points per game.
Toronto and Atlanta are meeting for the second time in nine days. The Dream won the first matchup 102-77 on June 14 and are 7-2 in their last nine games.
–Field Level Media
