Four days after the Atlanta Dream poured on the offense in a road victory over the Sparks, they get another chance to repeat the feat Monday in a return to Los Angeles.
The Dream (24-13) can also complete a perfect four-game road trip after already earning victories at Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix, the last of which clinched their spot in the playoffs.
Atlanta has moved up to fourth in the overall league standings with seven games remaining in the regular season.
In the Dream’s 99-89 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, Angel Reese scored a career-high 31 points with 14 rebounds for her league-best 25th double-double of the season. Rhyne Howard scored 20 points and Allisha Gray added 17.
“It’s my first time being able to have a postseason so I’m really excited,” Reese said. “This group this year has just been super resilient through the highs and lows. We stayed together.”
Atlanta is riding high now. In winning five of their past six games, the Dream eliminated the Sparks and Mercury from playoff contention in successive games. Atlanta set a franchise record for points in a game with their 124-88 victory at L.A.
“We came on this West Coast trip and wanted to go 4-0 and obviously we have one more to take care of,” Reese said. “(We are) setting the tone for what the playoffs are going to look like for our team.”
The Sparks (13-24) ended a six-game losing streak with a defensive-minded 77-68 victory over the visiting Connecticut Sun on Saturday. They held their opponent to 35.1% shooting from the floor and won despite committing a season-high 25 turnovers.
“I think sometimes we get a little bit too greedy in moments versus just sticking to what works,” Sparks guard Erica Wheeler said. “That just comes with getting better each game, but when we share the ball, typically we win the game.”
Rae Burrell scored 20 points for Los Angeles, while Nneka Ogwumike added 11 points with 11 rebounds. Dearica Hamby added 10 points before she was ejected in the fourth quarter for a flagrant 2 foul after making contact to the face of Raegan Beers while positioning for a rebound.
The Dream can sweep the three-game season series between the teams after also winning at home 101-92 on July 13.
–Field Level Media
