The Atlanta Dream clinched a playoff spot for the fourth consecutive season and is increasing the probability of hosting a series.

Behind Angel Reese’s career-high 31 points, the Dream defeated the Phoenix Mercury 99-89 on Saturday at Mortgage Matchup Center. It will be Reese’s first time in the playoffs.

“It feels good to finally get here,” she said. “I want more than the playoffs. I want to walk away a champ and that’s why I came to Atlanta.”

Atlanta’s (24-13) third consecutive win gave it sole possession of fourth place in the East, which would come with homecourt advantage in the first playoff series.  The Dream is 11/2 games behind second-place Golden State, one-half games behind third-place Las Vegas, and 3 games ahead of eighth-place Dallas. The top four seeds will host series in the first round.

“You don’t want to peak too early and we are right where we want to be right now,” Reese said.

Reese’s previous career-high for points was 27, set against Seattle in 2024.

Reese also had 14 rebounds against Phoenix for her 25th double-double this season and third in the past three games. She is four double-doubles away from breaking the WNBA record set by Alyssa Thomas in 2023. Atlanta has seven games remaining. The four-game road trip ends at Los Angeles on Monday.

“She keeps getting better,” Dream Head Coach Karl Smesko said. “She was scoring in a multitude of ways.”

Rhyne Howard added 20 points, Allisha Gray 17 and Jordin Canada 12.

“Today the way we started, and the last two games, the way we came out, we came out with a lot of aggression on the defensive end, which got our offense going, and we were able to maintain that throughout the last two games,” Canada said.

 The Dream got off to another hot start, taking a 29-18 lead on the strength of 6-of-14 3-point shooting and eight assists. Howard went 4-of-7, all from 3. Defensively, Atlanta held Phoenix to 26.7% shooting.

The Dream’s 3-point shooting cooled off in the second quarter (1 of 8) but it increased its lead to 50-35 by scoring 18 points in the free-throw lane.

Phoenix cut Atlanta’s lead to one with 45 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Madina Okot hit two free throws to give Atlanta a three-point lead, 71-68. Howard finished the quarter with a bank shot to push the Dream’s lead to 73-68. Phoenix hit 59.1% of its shots, including 5 of 7 of its 3-pointers in the third.

Smesko said Atlanta can’t have another 5-minute stretch in the playoffs like it had to start the third quarter against Phoenix. He said it could cost them a game. Smesko added that sets weren’t run correctly, the players didn’t get back on defense and they gave up too many layups.

“It’s hard to play great for 40 minutes but that’s the goal,” Smesko said.

Atlanta started the final quarter with a 6-2 run to increase its lead to 79-70, and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the fourth.

“It was good to see us regroup, get the win, and qualify for the playoffs,” Smesko said.