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Atlanta Dream Get Necessary Win Against Phoenix Mercury

 

Rhyne Howard #10 of the Atlanta Dream drives to the basket during the game against the Phoenix Mercury on August 29, 2023 at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Cheyenne Parker Scores Big Again With 25 Points 

By: Jameelah Johnson

The Atlanta Dream (17-19) entered Tuesday’s game with a “must-win” mentality facing the visiting Phoenix Mercury (9-26). Coming off a three-game losing streak with playoff contention looming, Atlanta came out of the gate attacking to beat Phoenix 94-76.

Phoenix welcomed Diana Taurasi back into their starting lineup after she missed the previous two games with a left toe injury. The Mercury were coming off a Sunday loss which eliminated their chances of making the playoffs.

Atlanta jumped out of the gate with a 9-2 start, including a quick 7-point run from Rhyne Howard, forcing Phoenix to take an early timeout. Even after the timeout, Atlanta went on a 12-0 run before the Mercury were able to get anything going offensively. The defense swarmed the Mercury, forcing them to turn the ball over 16 total times. 

In her second game back, Allisha Gray finished with 18 points and only missed two of her field goal attempts. In the first quarter, Gray went 6-of-6 from the field for 13 points. Howard did a little bit of everything as she had 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal. 

Despite Phoenix’s efforts at a comeback in the third quarter, Atlanta sustained a double-digit lead led by Howard and Parker’s combined 16 points. The Mercury’s Sug Sutton added 20 points off the bench in addition to Brittney Griner and Moriah Jefferson’s 16 points each. 

Parker came up big in the final period as she shot 4-of-4 from the field and scored 9 points to finish the game strong. 

 

Lineup notes: 

Atlanta without Nia Coffey (hand). 

ATL: Danielle Robinson, Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Monique Billings and Cheyenne Parker
 

Phoenix without Sophie Cunningham (jaw) and Shey Peddy (concussion protocol). 

PHO: Diana Taurasi, Moriah Jefferson, Michaela Onyenwere, Brianna Turner, and Brittney Griner
 

Game Highlights: 

 

Howard hit her first 3-point attempt and went to work in the first quarter. As Howard brought the ball up the court, Parker set up the screen to make the open pull-up jumper for her teammate available. Parker had her hands in many pivotal parts of the game, even those not seen on the stat sheet.  

 

Gray was back to her mobile ways as she continued to push the pace on drives and score. Her teammate Aari McDonald found her in transition, and she kept on for a quick layup. 

Elite passing was on display and Atlanta had 27 assists on 39 made shots. Their ability to find their open teammate shined through when Parker passed it above Mercury’s Megan Gustafson to catch Robinson under the basket and then Robinson found a cutting Naz Hillmon for the layup.  

Atlanta made 7 threes, two of which came from Parker. McDonald came off the bench to score 13 points, one of which was a three off of the cross-court pass from teammate Iliana Rupert.  

 

Parker scored a necessary 8 points in the third quarter, where Atlanta were outscored by six. One of her strengths is her ability to move without the ball and that allowed her to get free with the help of a Howard screen and score the two in the paint. Atlanta had 52 points in the paint. 

 

Phoenix made a push in the final period, but Atlanta continued to find Parker who scored 9 points and kept attacking the paint to punish the interior defense.  

 

Postgame Sounds: 

Dream head coach Tanisha Wright: “Much needed win for us. More than the win, much needed opportunity to play well and to do that consistently throughout the game. So, really happy with the, with the effort that we gave out.”

Rhyne Howard on playing with the mask vs without it: “It wasn’t that hard. Only thing is like I could see a little bit of the nose part but other than that, it was pretty cool to have…it wasn’t too bad of an adjustment.” (Wright questioned it being “cool” and Howard tried to explain that it was because of how it looked, Parker added “Superhero vibes”)

Cheyenne Parker on defense: “Well I try to take pride in defense, support and I know that it wins games. Just tried to focus on playing good defense.”
 

Stats:

Atlanta: 52% (39-of-75 FG) from the field  

Phoenix: 55.2% (32-of-58 FG) from the field
 

Atlanta: 9-of-9 from the line 

Phoenix: 8-of-11 from the line
 

Atlanta: 32 rebounds (10 offensive) 

Phoenix: 23 rebounds (1 offensive)
 

Atlanta:  

Cheyenne Parker: 25 points (10-14 FG, 2-3 3FG), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals; Allisha Gray: 18 points (8-10 FG, 2-2 FT), 4 assists, 1 steal
 

Phoenix: 

Sug Sutton: 20 points (6-7 FG, 5-6 FT), 5 assists, 1 block; Moriah Jefferson: 16 points (7-12 FG, 2-2 FT), 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals