Brionna

Jones

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%.

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.

Jones’ scoring output was more muted on Friday night, with only seven shot attempts compared to 11 or more in each of her last five games. In typical Jones fashion she was still quite efficient only missing twice as she scored the basketball on super tight seals in the paint. She out-muscled Sparks front court players Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson and Azurá Stevens all within four feet of the basket to score the ball. Jones was just one rebound short of a double-double and she and Naz Hillmon led the team in rebounding with nine each.

Without Allisha Gray playing for a second straight game, the scoring came from Howard who tied two season highs in points scored and three-pointers made on Friday night. She hit four of her nine total three-pointers in the first quarter alone. All but one of Howard’s nine threes were assisted with passes coming from bigs Naz Hillmon and Brionna Jones and guards Jordin Canada and Te-Hina Paopao. Howard also had six assists herself to five different players including Jones, Brittney Griner, Maya Caldwell, Hillmon and Paopao. She kicked the ball to Hillmon and Caldwell for threes while finding Paopao cutting and Jones and Griner in their sweet spots less than ten feet from the basket.

Jones stuffed the stat sheet on Wednesday while leaving a great impact and finishing with the team’s highest plus-minus (+17). The veteran center used accurate shooting inside the arc to register her 16th game this season with at least 15 points. Her 12th double-digit rebound game on Wednesday also led her to as many double-doubles on the season as the Dream beat the Sparks and moved into second place in the WNBA standings. Jones will face Los Angeles again on Friday as she looks to land another productive performance.

After shooting 3-of-7 from three in an August 10 win over Phoenix, Hillmon shot 2-of-25 in the eight games that followed. To say she needed a performance like the one put forth against the Sun would be an understatement, given that extended slump. Hillmon, who moved into the starting lineup for good at the beginning of August, has only shot 16.3 percent from three as a starter. However, she can offer value as a floor-spacer alongside Brionna Jones (10/11/1/2/1), even if the percentage does not back that up.

In the minutes where Brionna Jones really struggled to begin the game, Dream head coach Karl Smeskso deployed back-up center Brittney Griner to play in her place and steady the Dream offense. Griner has at least six inches on Myisha Hines-Allen in height so she was able to exploit that matchup in ways that Jones struggled to. Griner scored 9 of her 11 total points in the first half on looks right in the paint. Griner also had two assists, two dump down passes to Allisha Gray and to Naz Hillmon. Both assists came off well timed off-ball movement from Gray and Hillmon as Griner brought the defense into the paint and found her teammates where the Wings defense wasn’t.

Paopao steadied the Dream’s offense in the first half. She hit a trio of threes and dished out half of her eight total assists. She led the Dream in assists for the fifth time this season, but in the first half she found Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard for a couple of kick out three-pointers and two driving layups from Gray within the paint. In the second half, she dished out assists to Brionna Jones, Nia Coffey and Howard once again. Paopao, as one of the smaller players on the Dream standing at 5'9,” also led the Dream rebounding the basketball. Friday night’s game was her second time leading the Dream in rebounding. By the fourth quarter, Paopao was on triple-double watch, which came as a result of her balanced performance in three major statistical categories.

Jones struggled to begin the game missing her limited shots at the basket. The Wings, especially with a head coach in Chris Koclanes who coached Jones for years as an assistant, clearly followed their scout to begin the game. The Wings held Jones to 1-for-3 from the field and 2 points in the first half. After a rough first half, however, Jones scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Dream offense found her on the move and on more advantageous seals in the second. Rhyne Howard, Te-Hina Paopao and Maya Caldwell all found Jones in the right spots. Friday night’s game was Jones’ 15th game of the regular season with 15 or more points scored.