Atlanta DreamvsWashington Mystics
ATL 74/WSH 79
Things to say
The Washington Mystics beat the Atlanta Dream 79-74 at home.
01
opener
Mystics took it 79-74 at home. Grind-it-out game, nobody cracked 80. Washington just wanted it more down the stretch.
02
key player
Shakira Austin was a problem all night — 21 and 11, cleaning up everything in the paint. That's the two-way anchor they needed.
03
hot take
Allisha Gray dropped 26 and still took the L. When your best bucket-getter goes off and you lose, that's a supporting-cast problem.
04
deep cut
Angel Reese pulled down 16 boards and it barely moved the needle. All those rebounds, but Atlanta couldn't buy a bucket when it mattered.
05
exit
Both sitting around .500 in a logjam — this one's gonna sting come playoff seeding. On to the next one.
The recap
Washington took down Atlanta 79-74 in a grind-it-out night where buckets were hard to come by for everybody. Shakira Austin was the difference, going for 21 and 11 and just eating them up on the glass.
Allisha Gray did everything she could for Atlanta with 26, and Angel Reese was a monster on the boards with 16, but the Dream just couldn't get enough to fall down the stretch. Mystics grab a nice one at home and pull within a game of Atlanta in the standings.