Allisha Gray posted team highs of 22 points and four steals, Jordin Canada had a stellar all-around performance and the Atlanta Dream defeated the host Washington Mystics 93-75 to sweep their first-round playoff series on Wednesday.
Canada, who had 10 points and 10 assists in Atlanta’s Game 1 win, came through again with 19 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and four 3-pointers to steer the Dream in Game 2.
The fourth-seeded Dream earned their first semifinal bid since 2018 and will take on the eighth-seed New York Liberty in a series that begins Sunday. The fifth-seeded Mystics saw an early end to their first playoff appearance since 2023.
Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard tallied 15 points apiece and Naz Hillmon added 10 for the Dream, who scored 23 points off 19 Washington turnovers in a continuation of the theme from Game 1.
The Dream also survived foul trouble in a game that featured 53 combined personal fouls. Howard fouled out and six other players across both teams finished with four. Atlanta went 20 of 22 on free throws to complement 13-for-32 shooting (40.6%) from 3-point range.
Sonia Citron led all scorers with 25 points and added seven boards for the Mystics. Kiki Iriafen put up 15 points and 16 rebounds, Michaela Onyenwere scored 12 and Cassandre Prosper pitched in 10 points off the bench.
The Dream never trailed, but the Mystics whittled a 15-point gap down to three when Prosper hit a third-chance bucket with 9:14 to play.
Canada chucked a full-court pass to Reese for an immediate response. That prompted a 13-0 Atlanta run featuring consecutive buckets from Hillmon, a long 2-pointer from Howard and a triple by Canada from the right elbow to make it 78-62. The Mystics went scoreless for more than three minutes and never got closer than 13 from then on.
The Dream led 24-17 after one period and notched their first double-digit lead 10 seconds into the second on Hillmon’s triple.
Canada assisted a pair of 3-pointers, including on a strong dribble-drive and kick to the corner for DeWanna Bonner, as Atlanta built a 36-23 lead with 4:01 to go in the half.
Shakira Austin’s hook shot and 3-pointer pulled the Mystics within eight, only for the Dream to respond with another Hillmon trey and Reese’s open layup off Te-Hina Paopao’s steal.
Washington proceeded to end the half on a 7-0 run, and Citron’s midrange shot beat the buzzer to cut the gap to 41-35.
Again, the Dream grew a double-digit lead, the largest coming at 63-48 on Howard’s three-point play at the 2:43 mark of the third. And again, the Mystics went on a quarter-closing run, scoring 10 of the final 12 points to trail 65-58.
–Field Level Media
