The Atlanta Dream held off a determined comeback by the Indiana Fever for a 108-101 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Thursday night.
Angel Reese scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Dream. Her layup and free throw with 23 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter clinched the game for Atlanta. Indiana could not stop Reese, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard when it was most needed in the closing minutes.
The Fever trailed 83-70 with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. However, with 7:22 remaining in the fourth, Indiana went on a 9-0 run. Kelsey Mitchell hit the 700th 3-pointer of her WNBA career to pull Indiana to within three points, then Sophie Cunningham hit a reverse layup to tie the score at 93-93 with five minutes to go.
The Fever generated their rally with Caitlin Clark on the bench, sitting down after drawing her fifth personal foul with 8:41 left.
Clark and Mitchell both finished with 26 points, followed by 23 and 8 rebounds from Alliyah Boston. Sophie Cunningham added 12 points off the bench, but the Fever did not get much from the rest of the lineup.
Meanwhile, the Dream spread the scoring throughout their starting lineup. All five starters scored 15 or more points. In addition to Reese’s 21 points, Jordin Canada tallied 18 points with 5 rebounds and 4 steals, while Gray and Naz Hillmon each added 17 points. Howard compiled 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
With the win, Atlanta improved to 10-4. The Dream are currently fourth in the WNBA standings, but are only a half-game behind the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty for the second spot.
Perhaps more importantly, Atlanta prevented Indiana from moving ahead of them into fourth place. The Fever had their four-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-6 for the seventh spot in the league’s playoff race.
Indiana has an opportunity to get that win back in the second part of their home-and-home series versus the Dream. The two teams will face each other again in Atlanta on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
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