Rhyne Howard #10 of the Atlanta Dream handles the ball during the game on July 12, 2023 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.(Photo by Dale Zanine/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Dream’s Three All-Stars Combined For 52 Points in 85-75 Win

By: Jameelah Johnson  

The Atlanta Dream (11-8) entered the night at Gateway Center Arena looking for their sixth consecutive win while the Seattle Storm (4-16) sought to break a six-game losing streak before the All-Star Break. What followed was two lead changes early in the first quarter and all Atlanta until the fourth.   

“A good win. A good way for us to go into the break,” Dream’s Head Coach Tanisha Wright said she noticed in the past few games that the team has had “a different focus” and approached the games “very, very business-like.”  

Atlanta’s Cheyenne Parker started with a three-point play to put The Dream on the board, and that possession served as how the game would play out. Seattle took an early lead off of Kia Nurse’s three which was quickly answered by a three from Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard.  

The Dream dominated the first quarter shooting 10-16 from the field with Howard and teammate Allisha Gray leading all scorers with six points each.   

Seattle’s Jordan Horston stayed active with eight points in ten minutes for the Storm but Atlanta maintained a double-digit lead through six minutes of the second quarter. Despite five turnovers in the quarter, Atlanta kept their 10-point lead primarily due to Parker’s late-quarter dominance in the paint and Gray’s eight points scored. 

Atlanta took a timeout with under five minutes left in the third quarter after a Horston three and soon after, Gray answered by finding Parker for the layup. Atlanta outscored Seattle 21-16 in both the second and third quarters.  

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“I think we’re just buying in. T (Coach Wright) challenges us and pushes us and knows…she just expects a lot out of us and we just have to expect that same thing out of ourselves,” said Monique Billings who scored five points in less than a minute to end the third quarter. “So I think we’re just trying to level up. That’s been something we’ve been talking about, being consistent.”   

The Dream led by 20 heading into the final period behind a combined 46 points from their three All-Stars.  

Seattle outscored The Dream 26-16 in the final period, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the large deficit.   

Gray finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Parker had 18 points and 6 rebounds while Howard had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Horston had a double-double for Seattle with 23 points and 10 rebounds along with 3 steals and 2 assists.  

“We’ve been focused on what’s at hand, finishing out these six games that we had.” Gray said after the win that they didn’t have much time to discuss what to expect for All-Star. “So that’s what we were more focused on. Now that we’ve achieved what we wanted to do, now we can focus on All-Star.” 

Gray, Howard, and Parker head to Las Vegas for the All-Star Game on Saturday, July 15 at 8:30 pm ET.