Fire’s hot shooting leads to 102-92 win over Dream with Angel Reese injured

The Portland Fire capitalized on Atlanta’s cold shooting and defensive lapses Saturday night, defeating the Dream 102-92 and handing Atlanta its sixth loss in the past seven games.

The Dream played without All-Star forward Angel Reese, who was ruled out before tipoff with a right leg injury after turning her right ankle during Thursday’s win over the Seattle Storm. Reese had been listed as questionable entering the game before Atlanta announced she would not play. Rookie center Madina Okot made the start in her place and responded with a career-high 19 points.

All five Dream starters scored in double figures. Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 20 points, Naz Hillmon added 15, and Jordin Canada recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 assists. Canada now leads all WNBA guards in double-doubles this season. Rhyne Howard finished with 10 points and four steals.

The difference came from beyond the arc.

Atlanta shot just 23% from 3-point range, while Portland consistently punished defensive breakdowns, tying its season-high with 14 three-pointers on 29 attempts. 

“We got good looks,” Hillmon said. “We just have to knock them down.”

The Dream trailed 51-44 at halftime after Portland exploited defensive miscommunication on pick-and-pop actions to create open looks. Atlanta cut the deficit to 88-81 midway through the fourth quarter, but Portland answered every push with back-to-back baskets to put the game away.

“Anytime we miscommunicated, anytime we over-helped, they found their open shooters or their rollers,” Hillmon said. 

Head coach Karl Smesko said the Dream generated enough quality opportunities but couldn’t overcome their shooting struggles.

“We made defensive mistakes, they made us pay for them, and we couldn’t keep up with as well as they were shooting the ball,” Smesko said. “We had three or four miscommunications on some of those pick-and-pops. We had two people go with one, and they just have too many good shooters for that.”

Atlanta’s offensive process, Smesko said, wasn’t the problem.

“We’re winning possessions by a margin that you would probably win 95% of those games, but not if your effective field goal percentage is going to be what ours is,” he said. 

The Fire won with a balanced scoring attack. Megan Gustafson led the team with 17 points, Serah Williams added 15 off the bench, Emily Engstler finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, Carla Leite had 13 points and 10 assists, and Bridget Carleton scored 12 points while knocking down four 3-pointers. Teja Oblak chipped in nine points, including several key baskets in the fourth quarter that helped put the game away.

Atlanta drops to 13-10 with the loss and will look to regroup in its next game against the Los Angeles Sparks before the All-Star break.