Jordin Canada's 227th assist broke a Dream record set in 2017, and Rhyne Howard scored 23 as Atlanta beat Phoenix 96-82 on Wednesday night.
Rhyne Howard scored 23 points and handed out 8 assists, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 96-82 on Wednesday night at Gateway Center Arena at College Park.
Howard shot 6-of-13 from the field and 5-of-9 from 3-point range, and she added 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. Allisha Gray scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Atlanta made 14 3-pointers, matching its season high, and shot 42.4% from behind the arc.
Atlanta scored 33 points in the first quarter on 5-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. The teams were tied once, at 2-2, and Phoenix never led.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said Phoenix has a lot of firepower and that the first half gave Atlanta a little cushion going into the second half.
"Well, I think Rhyne was really aggressive early, and I think she helped us get off to a great start, and then I think Allisha was like seven of eight or something in the first half," Smesko said. "She was knocking down everything, and I thought the ball movement, the screening — we were finding pocket passes when they were icing the ball screens.
"I just thought we did a really good job getting good shots in the first half. It was probably the best ball movement we've had in a long time, and we're knocking down threes, so there's a little bit more spacing on the floor, and we were able to get Bri or Angel on rolls. It was a really good first half."
Gray hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions midway through the second quarter to put Atlanta ahead 41-26. She carried 17 points into halftime on 7-of-8 shooting, Howard had 15, and Atlanta led 54-47 at the break.
Smesko said Atlanta tried not to get separated from Kelsey Plum and was going to switch if it had to, even if the switch put the Dream in a mismatch.
"And then defensively, there were some just great possessions where we're not giving up good shots," Smesko explained. "There were still a few times where we had some defensive breakdowns, but in truth, all we had was the shootarounds, so there's going to be some mistakes on how we wanted to guard some sets, and plus, they have really good players that are hard to guard.
"We didn't guard it exactly the way we wanted, but overall, a good defensive effort. I thought Naz did a great job for us on that end of the floor in particular. And JC set a record for assists in a season, so great game, great win. You don't get to celebrate it very long, because in two days you'll be playing another game."
Howard said Atlanta finished the game with 29 assists on 33 made baskets.
"I mean, everybody knows that we want to shoot threes, so you can't win a game only making four," Howard said.
"I think it felt better that we were getting open shots from creating them instead of just taking them," Howard continued. "I think obviously it always feels good to knock down a three, and that's what we are going to continue to do. But I think the way we found those threes is what felt the best, because now you have the extra confidence to knock it down. Because we worked to get a great shot, and now it's just about finishing it."
Atlanta shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the third quarter and outscored Phoenix 27-19. Jaylyn Sherrod's 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the period made it 76-56, the largest lead of the night. Sami Whitcomb answered with 9 points in the quarter for Phoenix on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.
Jordin Canada's fourth assist of the game was her 227th of the season and broke the Dream's single-season record, which Layshia Clarendon set in 2017. Canada reached the mark in 30 games. She scored 17 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 5 rebounds.
Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said Phoenix allowed Atlanta to get comfortable and build confidence in the first quarter.
"Yeah, I mean, I'll have to look at the tape, but it felt like Gray and Howard got loose. I believe they had 15 and 17 at the half," Tibbetts said. "And the second half we did a better job of getting to them, but that's the sense of urgency that we've got to have to start the game."
Kelsey Plum scored 19 points in her first start for Phoenix, which acquired her from Los Angeles on Aug. 2. Alyssa Thomas had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. DeWanna Bonner finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds and went 8-of-8 from the line. Kahleah Copper scored 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting. The Mercury shot 7-of-24 (29.2%) from 3-point range and were outrebounded 38-28.
Plum said Phoenix did not assert itself against Howard and Gray and needed to be more physical.
"Just trying to play with pace. I thought, to be honest, like, I dropped the ball on that a little bit after I kind of hit a wall," Plum said. "I think everything kind of hit me.
"But at the end of the day, like, what was the final score, 82-96?" Plum continued. "We're not going to win a lot of games scoring 82 points in terms of playing high-scoring teams, especially if we're not getting stops like that.
"So we've got to have more possessions, and I think that also the rebounding battle just kind of killed us. We talked about it going in, but you've got to at least break even with these guys to have a chance to win the game. We didn't do that."
Angel Reese had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists for her 21st double-double of the season, tying the Dream's single-season franchise record. Reese leads the WNBA in double-doubles. Naz Hillmon scored 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, and all five Atlanta starters finished in double figures. Atlanta is 19-7 this season with that starting five. Brionna Jones came off the bench for 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in 20 minutes.
Gray said she was aggressive from the jump ball.
"I mean, I love having Bri back. She gets me a lot of points as well, because they double her a lot, so she's able to throw it out to me and I'm able to knock down the shot," Gray said.
"But she's a force to reckon with, especially in that post area, and it's just like, when you throw Bri the ball, it's like, go ahead and go to work. Do your thing. But she's just an amazing player and we're so happy to have her back, and she's steady getting it going. But once she gets it going, then she's going to be unstoppable."
The 23 points were Howard's 10th 20-point game of the season and her first since early July. Gray has 14 such games. Howard said Atlanta kept forcing Phoenix into tough shots at the defensive end.
"I mean, yeah, of course I feel like I've been in a slump, because I was. I'm very aware of what was going on, so we don't have to pretend like that wasn't a thing," Howard explained. "But I brought in these pieces so that I could afford to have a slump and we could still win a lot of games. Even if I'm not scoring, I do other things.
"I assist, I defend, I get steals, just having a continuous impact on the game."
Howard's block in the first half was her 122nd with Atlanta, moving her to fifth in franchise history. Smesko's 49th win moved him to third in franchise history, behind Michael Cooper and Marynell Meadors, in his second season.
Smesko said Canada struggled in the first half, got hit in the mouth, and had time to regroup at halftime.
"I think both teams start missing shots in the fourth quarter, to be honest," Smesko said.
"When they got good looks, we got a little fortunate," Smesko continued. "When we got good looks, they got a little fortunate. But we were able to keep it over double figures. We know how explosive they are, and that they're capable of putting together 10-, 12-point runs in a minute and a half, two minutes.
"So you have to finish the game, and I was just glad to see that everybody took it serious and we finished off with a win."
Atlanta shot 16-of-17 (94.1%) from the free-throw line. Phoenix went 23-of-26. Te-Hina Paopao did not play for Atlanta because of a right leg injury. The announced attendance was 3,575, a sellout.
Atlanta is 19-11. The Dream lost 109-87 to Las Vegas on Monday. Atlanta is 19-29 all-time against Phoenix, which fell to 12-20. The teams meet again Aug. 22 in Phoenix.
Both teams play Friday. Atlanta is at Washington, and Phoenix is at Connecticut.
