Shall we count the accomplishments of the night?
With one game remaining before the All-Star break, the Atlanta Dream continued their winning ways with a 111-92 victory over the Toronto Tempo on Friday night.
After leading by just one at halftime, 48-47, following a slow offensive start, the Dream put together a strong second half and earned multiple accolades along the way.
One of the highlights of the night was the return of center Brionna Jones. Making her season debut after being sidelined with a right ankle injury, Jones came off the bench with six points, six rebounds and four assists in 14 minutes.
This was also the first time she shared the floor with three-time All-Star Angel Reese, who expressed her excitement for Jones’ return.
“Seeing her on the sideline, playing against her all last year and my rookie year, and finally being able to play with her felt really good,” Reese said. “…She’s a great leader for us, and we’re just really happy to have Bri back.”
Reese paused before adding, “That’s Karl’s (Smesko) favorite, so we’re happy to have her back.” The comment drew a laugh from both Reese and Naz Hillmon during the postgame press conference.
Head coach Karl Smesko spoke about Jones’ performance in the postgame press conference.
“She just came in and gave us what Bri does. Solid minutes, we were better on both ends of the floor while she was out there. She’s just a great player,” Smesko said.
Hillmon also had a career night. She not only set a new career high with a team-leading 24 points but also finished with a perfect shooting performance, going 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
“I just think it’s one of those things you don’t realize until after the game,” Hillmon explained when asked what it felt like to shoot perfectly. “In the moment, I’m just worried about a win. The game got close, so just trying to make sure I’m doing whatever I need to…it’s been a long time coming, especially with my threes. So, it was nice to see them go in today.”
Smesko admitted there were shaky moments when the ball would get stuck, but praised the team’s overall offensive performance, adding that it was fun when everyone played well on the same night.
“We’re getting our whole team together, now we want to see how good we can become,” Smesko said.
All five starters scored in double figures. Reese recorded her league-leading 17th double-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Jordin Canada added her sixth double-double of the season with 18 points, 13 assists and three steals.
Allisha Gray finished with 18 points and three rebounds, while Rhyne Howard added 10 points, four rebounds and five assists. Isobel Borlase also came off the bench with 10 points of her own.
It has been an unusually quiet stretch for Howard, who was held scoreless in the first half before opening the third quarter with the Dream’s first four points. Smesko said he and the rest of the team drew up a few plays for Howard to begin the second half and help her regain her rhythm.
“Just letting her know that we believe in her and keep going,” Smesko said. “…She had that huge three-point play later in the half, which was a tough shot. She’s a great player. If she has a poor shooting half, we’re just going to keep going to her because she’s that good a player.”
Taking advantage of Toronto’s 20 turnovers, the Dream converted them to 29 favorable points. Finding their rhythm in the second half resulted in taking complete control of the game before closing out the victory ahead of the season’s first half finale back at home.
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