Rhyne Howard scored a team-high 20 points Monday night and the Atlanta Dream led by double figures for most of the last 35:05 of a 94-87 win over the visiting Toronto Tempo.
Allisha Gray and reserve Madina Okot added 18 each as Atlanta improved to 12-4. The Dream made 34 of 78 shots (43.6 %) from the field and earned a 47-41 rebounding advantage.
The Dream led for all but the first 17 seconds of the game and led by as many as 23 points. They also got 11 points and 13 assists from Jordin Canada, plus 11 points from Angel Reese.
Marina Mabrey scored a game-high 23 points to pace Toronto (8-9), which lost for the fourth time in five games. Isabelle Harrison added 21 and Temi Fagbenle had 10 in a reserve role before fouling out with 4:10 left in the game.
Atlanta feasted on the Tempo’s weak interior defense, earning a 50-38 advantage in paint points, and also converted 17 turnovers into 22 points. Thanks to Okot, the Dream owned a 28-22 margin in bench points.
A fast start built the margin that Atlanta lived off for the game’s remainder. It scored the first seven points and kept piling on, executing brilliantly on offense. A 3-pointer by Canada at the 1:48 mark made the margin 31-8.
Another reason the Dream started so well was their ability to attract fouls and then convert at the line. They got into the bonus with 4:34 on the clock and went 10 of 10 at the line in the period.
Ahead 33-15 after a quarter, the Dream spent the game’s remainder keeping Toronto at arm’s length. Atlanta took a 59-41 lead at intermission and owned an 81-65 advantage after three quarters.
Mabrey tried to drag the Tempo into contention with eight points in a span of 2:17 in the fourth quarter, pulling them within 90-78 with 3:24 remaining. Some sloppy play by the Dream helped make the final margin closer but never really put the outcome up for grabs.
–Field Level Media
