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ATLANTA – After a loss against the Indiana Fever at home, the Atlanta Dream were looking for an answer to help them get back on track against the Dallas Wings. Today, the answer was Allisha Gray, and she came up big in a win for the Dream after having a down game against the Fever. Gray couldn't get much going in that game as she finished with 11 points and shot 4-for-13 from the field. The frustration was on her face all game, from missing the shots she usually makes to picking up fouls that she didn't understand were being called.
With a game in two days, Gray had to put that performance behind her and focus on the task at hand, and she delivered. She was more aggressive in this game, getting to the foul line. She knocked down 4-of-9 3-pointers in rhythm. On the defensive end, she was a pest, as she helped hold the backcourt of Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale to 6-for-25 shooting.
With all of that, Gray finished with 27 points, five rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
“I thought she played great,” head coach Karl Smesko said after the game. “Her defense was excellent, she was looking for her shot. She was kind of disappointed with how she played in the last game, and I just loved her mentality going into today. Right from the beginning, she was ready to go.”
“The biggest thing was bouncing back from the last game and understanding the mistakes we made, and just come out today and not make the same mistakes,” Gray said.
Gray filled up the stat sheet, and she found a healthy balance of being able to stay on the attack, while also knowing when to feed her teammates.
“I think it just speaks to me being an all-around player. I try to benefit the game in any way I can, make the extra pass, take the open shot, and help setting up my teammates. I think that’s just the unselfish play of me and being an all-around player.”
When Gray is playing like she did today, the Dream will be a hard team to guard, and she showed what can happen when everything is clicking for her.
Dream get big win against the Wings
It was a back-and-forth game between both teams until the end of the first half, when the Dream started to pull away. Coming out of halftime, they kept that same intensity and built a 20-point lead at one point.
“I thought we got better shots the last five minutes of the first half and the beginning of the second half,” Smesko said. “Pace wasn’t as good as we wanted in the beginning, but we picked it up, and all of a sudden, the last five minutes, we were getting easy ones in transition. We were able to extend the lead there, which I thought was huge coming out of halftime, and get them to take a timeout.”
The Wings made their run in the fourth quarter, but the Dream were able to settle down and make big plays at the right time. It was Gray who took command, as she had seven of her 27 points in the quarter. Not only did she do it all on offense, but she locked down on defense and had two blocks in the quarter.
When asked about what the key was to her timing of the blocks, Gray didn't have an answer herself.
“I don't know. You either got it or you don't,” Gray jokingly said.
The Dream will have to have a short memory once again, as they face the Connecticut Sun in less than 24 hours.
