Allisha Gray hit 6 of her 7 attempts from 3-point range and scored a team-high 24 points, leading the Atlanta Dream to a 78-74 comeback win over the visiting Las Vegas Aces on Friday.
Rhyne Howard added 16 points for Atlanta (4-2), which won its second straight game. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and Tina Charles tallied eight rebounds each to lead the team.
A’ja Wilson led Las Vegas (4-2) with 28 points and nine rebounds, followed by Kelsey Plum’s 19 points. Jackie Young added 15 points for the Aces, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Holding a six-point halftime lead, Las Vegas doubled its advantage on Plum’s triple and Wilson’s three-point play, taking a 40-28 lead with 8:34 left in the third quarter.
Atlanta then responded with a 16-5 run, forcing an Aces timeout after Aerial Powers’ layup and Gray’s 3-pointer cut the deficit to 45-44 with 3:48 remaining in the third quarter.
Out of the timeout, Gray knocked down another triple, giving the Dream their first lead since the first quarter.
Following Wilson’s three-point play with two seconds left, the score was knotted at 53 entering the fourth.
From there, Wilson’s step back jumper put Las Vegas ahead 60-56 with 7:57 left, but Parker-Tyus’ three-point play tied the game at 62 at the 6:24 mark.
With 3:45 left, Clark’s three-pointer cut the Aces’ deficit to 69-67 before Howard doubled the lead with a pullup jumper on the next possession.
Leading 71-70 with 1:02 left, Howard knocked down a pair of free throws. After forcing two straight stops on defense, the Dream went up 74-70 on Powers’ free throw with 26.1 seconds left.
Young’s layup cut the lead in half with 22 seconds left, before Powers made another pair of free throws, putting Atlanta up 76-72.
Gray made two more foul shots to cement the Atlanta victory.
In a low-scoring first quarter, Las Vegas led 11-10 after Crystal Dangerfield’s jumper beat the buzzer for Atlanta. The Aces shot just 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) from the field, while the Dream shot 4-for-20 (20 percent).
Las Vegas began the second quarter on a 13-3 run, stamped with Young’s three-point play at the 6:31 mark. The Dream answered with a 6-0 spurt, cutting their deficit to 24-19 on Howard’s pullup jumper.
Minutes later, back-to-back layups from Haley Jones and Howard trimmed the Aces’ lead to 26-23, forcing a Las Vegas timeout.
Las Vegas led 34-28 at halftime, thanks to Wilson’s team-high 12 points. Howard and Dangerfield paced the Dream with seven apiece.
–Field Level Media