Following an emotional pair of games on back-to-back nights, the battle-tested Atlanta Dream will host the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Friday at College Park, Ga.
After the Dream lost 77-75 at home to the Golden State Valkyries on Cecilia Zandalasini’s jumper with 3.9 seconds left on Tuesday, Naz Hillmon hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer on Wednesday with 2.6 seconds remaining to propel Atlanta to an 88-85 road win over the Dallas Wings.
Atlanta (16-11) enters Friday’s game as winners in three of its last four games, with its last three outings decided by four points or fewer.
“They’re resilient. I have to work on bouncing back as fast as they do. These losses bother me,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. “It was just a fight until the end (on Wednesday). Who was going to make the last shot? Fortunately that was us.”
Hillmon set a season-high with 21 points in the victory and has emerged as one of Atlanta’s late-game options while Rhyne Howard (16.5 points per game) is sidelined with a knee injury.
“(Naz) has been fantastic this year,” Smesko said. “I think she’s somebody that should be strongly considered for sixth (player) of the year. She gives us a burst off the bench every single game.”
Hillmon has averaged 8.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 27 games off the bench this season. Allisha Gray leads Atlanta with 18.3 points per game.
Phoenix (16-10) is looking to break out of a skid after losing four of its last five games. On Wednesday, Alyssa Thomas’ 32 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists weren’t enough in a 107-101 setback against the Indiana Fever.
“You’re not going to win many games when you give up 107 points. It’s not reliable,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said. “We have to be more solid. You’re also not going to win when you give up 32 points at the free throw line.”
Friday will mark the fourth game of a five-city road trip for the Mercury, which will look to rebound from their worst defensive effort of the season.
Satou Sabally paces the Mercury with 17.6 points, followed by Thomas’ 16.4 points, 9.2 assists and 8.3 rebounds.
The contest will mark Brittney Griner’s second against the Mercury, the team she spent 11 seasons with though 2024. Griner had 17 points and eight rebounds in Atlanta’s 90-79 win in Phoenix on July 23.
–Field Level Media
