Allisha

Gray

Canada has put a lot of pressure on the rim and was incredibly efficient scoring the basketball. She couldn’t be stopped by the Fever’s perimeter defense as she scored often on Lexie Hull, Aeriel Powers and Kelsey Mitchell. Canada also made some incredibly difficult and shifty shots on her drives into the paint. But in addition to Canada’s scoring, she registered 10 assists and she distributed the ball to five different players in Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones, Brittney Griner and Naz Hillmon. Between her scoring and assists, Canada was responsible for 41 of the Dream’s total 85 points, which over 48%.

Gray willed her team throughout the entire 40 minutes of this game and she was super efficient doing so. She was her most successful scoring in transition and using her speed to get past the Fever defense. Gray did get into some foul trouble early on which limited how much damage she was able to do on the floor both defensively and offensively. The Dream’s best player all season long was limited to 33 minutes in an elimination game. Gray told ESPN’s broadcast that she had never tried to rebound more intentionally in her life than she did on Thursday night. That showed on the box score as her 12 rebounds were the most she’s had during the entire 2025 season.

Gray was responsible for the lone three-pointer hit by Dream starters on Tuesday, as they combined to shoot 1-of-13. By comparison, Atlanta’s starting five combined to go 7-of-19 from deep in their 80-68 victory in Game 1. Gray has shot 9-of-32 in two games from the field, a far cry from her 45.1 percent mark during the regular season. Offense tends to get tougher to come by during the postseason, but the Dream needs to get Gray untracked early in Thursday’s decisive Game 3. If not, their playoff stay could be a short one.

Gray started the postseason off with a bang, as she finished as the Dream’s leader in steals, tied a team-high in points, and made contributions as a facilitator as well. The All-Star guard shot inefficiently from the floor but did utilize the free-throw line to make a difference as a scorer on Sunday. There’s still plenty of room for improvement in Tuesday’s Game 2, but Gray’s production in the series’ opening game was more than enough to help Atlanta to a 1-0 series lead.

Like with Allisha Gray, Dream head coach Karl Smesko limited Jones’ minutes so that she’s fresh come playoffs. Even in 16 minutes played, Jones was super efficient. All but one of her scores were assisted by her teammates with Naz Hillmon, Te-Hina Paopao and Allisha Gray finding her being guarded by a smaller defender. Jones finished her 2025 regular season campaign as the league’s leader in offensive rebounds with 136. This was the fifth most in a season in WNBA history.

Gray had a limited amount of shots on Wednesday night, but that probably is a result of the MVP candidate being on very top of the Sun’s scouting report. But also, head coach Karl Smesko was intentional about her minutes. She only played in 20 minutes, a minute total Gray probably will surpass in each playoff game she plays in beginning this Sunday. Gray didn’t get downhill as much as she usually does but rather just capitalized off of the Sun’s missed rotations on the perimeter. All of Gray’s field goals came on passes from either Rhyne Howard, Maya Caldwell or Te-Hina Paopao. Gray functioned much more as a facilitator on Wednesday night as she had five assists where she found Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner on lob passes in the post along with extra passes to Naz Hillmon and Howard who were more open than she was on the perimeter.

Gray’s first game in a week was a successful one, as she shot the ball efficiently both inside and outside the arc en route to her 30th 15-point game of the season. She only needed 20 minutes of game action to reach her scoring totals, with the limited minutes being a planned approach in her return from injury. Gray and the Dream will have one more regular-season game before the playoffs begin. They’re still trying to finish as the WNBA’s second seed.

As the Dream remains in a battle for the No. 2 seed in the WNBA standings, they’ll get their leading scorer, Gray, back from a knee injury. Gray has had arguably the best season of her career, averaging 18.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. With a healthier roster than usual, Atlanta will try to secure its fifth victory in a row on Monday.

Gray will play for the first time since the Dream’s September 1 win over the Sun, against whom she will make her return on Monday. Her return will come with a minutes restriction, according to Atlanta’s head coach Karl Smesko. Gray, the team’s leading scorer, will likely start on Monday and provide the Dream a significant boost on both ends of the floor from opening tip.

For the second straight game in a row with Allisha Gray not available, Caldwell stepped up to the plate and played a huge role for the Dream coming off the bench. Once Rhyne Howard got off to a super hot start in the first half, someone had to take the pressure off the 2022 rookie of the year. Caldwell took some of the scoring weight off Howard’s shoulders and got hot in the second half, scoring 14 of her total 19 points all in the final two frames. She shot over 60% from the field for the second straight game on Friday night, and tied her career-high in scoring while setting a new career-high with five made three-pointers.