Dream dominate Sky with balanced attack

They say the sky’s the limit, but it seems the Atlanta Dream can surpass that.

Atlanta closed out its last home regular-season game with a strong 106-81 finish to shut down the Chicago Sky.

Both teams came out of the gate trading baskets. Neither team could pull away, and Atlanta struggled with turnovers in the second quarter, which rocked it off its rhythm.

In the midst of this, however, there were standouts who sparked the arena. Isobel Borlase and DeWanna Bonner provided an electric energy off the bench and wasted no time racking up baskets.

Angel Reese closed the first half with 16 of her 23 points, leading both teams in scoring for the second consecutive game. She also added two steals and three blocks, furthering her Defensive Player of the Year campaign.

In the second half, Allisha Gray was also an offensive force to be reckoned with, racking up 10 points to close out the third quarter. From there, the Dream only pushed the Sky harder, even with a 20-plus-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Key Moments

In the second half, the Dream pulled away and staked their claim at State Farm Arena. They didn’t let up once the engine was running, as everyone pulled their weight on the floor. The Dream led by 22 points at one point during the third quarter and used that momentum to close out the rest of the half.

Right before the half, Reese set a record, becoming the first player in WNBA history to reach 500 rebounds in a single season.

Another accolade for the Dream’s defense came after recording 374 steals, setting a WNBA single-season record for the most steals by a team.

Top performers

Dream

Angel Reese: 23 PTS, 10 REB, 4 AST

Isobel Borlase: 18 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST

Allisha Gray: 17 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST

Rhyne Howard: 14 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST

Jordin Canada: 11 PTS, 2 REB, 10 AST

DeWanna Bonner: 8 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST

Naz Hillmon: 2 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST

Sky

Gabriela Jaquez: 14 PTS, 3 REB

Kamilla Cardoso: 11 PTS, 6 REB

Courtney Vandersloot: 10 PTS, 5 REB

Highlight of the night

After racking up three 3-pointers in a row in the fourth quarter, it’s safe to say Borlase’s overall presence on the floor was a nightmare for the Sky to guard. She was also 6-for-8 from the field.

Quotable

“It’s just like, shoot, again. Izzy (Borlase), she does so much for the team. I mean, just as a rookie, just coming in and just having that impact … she just makes me proud. She comes in, works hard every day, stays (after) practice, get shots in. So it’s just like she never complains, and she’s playing two minutes or 20 minutes. I mean, she always plays her hardest, and always gives it her best. So I’m very proud of my rookie.” -Gray on Borlase’s performance

“I think you just got to be confident. I think that’s something I am still working on, and just believing that you put the work in. And I think given the season’s really long, and like Lish (Gray) said, sometimes I play three minutes, sometimes I play 15. You just never know. So I think just doing as much preparation as I can during the week, so I can hopefully execute. Doesn’t happen every night, but it’s nice when they do go in, and you can be as efficient as possible.” -Borlase on being ready for big moments off the bench

“I think there’s some advantages to playing in this type of situation on the road, going into the playoffs with a team that is also fighting for playoff position. It gives you a couple of playoff-intensity light games before the playoffs actually start. So I would think it probably could be good for both us in New York in that regard.” -Dream coach Karl Smesko on playing the Liberty for the last two regular-season matchups

“I think everybody can see the growth that she’s had from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, where she’s at right now. And I’ve told her that I’m really proud of the improvement that she’s made this year. And I’ll go on the record: I think her biggest jump is going to be between the end of this year and next year, when there’s one more offseason, and she gets to play in the same system and that type of thing. She’s had different coaches every year. You can see her comfort level now compared to the beginning of the season. It’s just night and day. So I think she’s been fantastic. I think she’s shown a lot of growth this year. She’s had as big, if not a bigger, impact than I imagined, and I still think there’s going to be a lot of growth yet to happen.” -Smesko on Reese’s impact on the team