Dream boost postseason hopes with 86-70 win over Sky

Big win for the Dream.

The Atlanta Dream entered their home finale — and second to last game of the regular season — staring down a ‘win-or-go-home’ scenario. With the Dream and Chicago Sky locked at identical 13-25 records — along with the Washington Mystics who were playing the New York Liberty simultaneously — Atlanta had to come up with a win lest they miss out on the 8-seed in the playoffs by virtue of tiebreak.

Both teams started hot from the field, but the Dream’s hot shooting was able to outlast their competition by the end of the first quarter. Here’s a nice feed from point guard Jordin Canada to free Naz Hillmon for an easy lay-in.

And below, center Lorela Cubaj went to work in the post.

After one quarter, the Dream led 22-14 behind 8-for-15 shooting from the field.

Atlanta began dialing up the defensive intensity towards the end of the first quarter, and it carried over into the second period. They soon opened up a double-digit lead and never looked back.

Haley Jones got into the scoring fest with this nice up-and-under move.

The Dream simply asserted themselves all half long, and Chicago, who was essentially missing an entire starting lineup’s worth of players due to injury, had no real answer.

Atlanta took a commanding 46-32 lead into the locker room hoping to continue that momentum in the second half.

In the third quarter, Rhyne Howard took over as only she can. The Sky were forced to call a timeout after a couple of skillful finishes from the two-time All-Star.’

Here is just a glimpse of her craft.

After three quarters, the Dream left the door open after a cold end to the period. With a lead down to just 60-52, this monumental game was far from decided.

In the fourth quarter, the Dream attempted to right the ship and close this game out. While the lead got down to six points a couple of time, Atlanta kept fighting back to push the lead back out to double-digits.

Big buckets like this from Allisha Gray finally sealed the deal.

The Dream finished the Mystics off, 86-70. Four players — Rhyne Howard, Jordin Canada, Allisha Gray and Tina Charles — all finished between 15 and 18 points scored in a balanced effort.

The Dream now travel to New York to take on the Liberty on the final day of the regular season in a ‘win-and-get-in’ situation to secure the 8-seed in the playoffs.