ATLANTA — Rhyne Howard had game highs with 26 points and five steals, double-double machine Angel Reese added 13 points and 12 rebounds in the first postseason game of her WNBA career, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Washington Mystics 92-77 Sunday night in the opening game of their first-round series.
Game 2 of the best-of-three matchup is Wednesday in Washington, where No. 4 seed Atlanta will try to close out the series and advance to the league semifinals. The Dream have won six straight games dating to the regular season, which they finished 30-14 after winning nine of their last 10 games.
The fifth-seeded Mystics were coming off a 7-1 stretch to close their regular-season schedule, but they were shaky at times Sunday, committing 22 turnovers that the Dream converted into 27 points. Atlanta, which rallied from an 11-point deficit, set the franchise’s playoff record with 16 steals and were two shy of the WNBA mark of 18 held by the Indiana Fever since 2009.
“I think we were just playing with a lot of nerves,” Dream forward DeWanna Bonner said of Atlanta’s slow start. “I think the second half, (Atlanta coach) Karl (Smesko) settled us down.”
Allisha Gray scored 22 points and Jordin Canada joined teammate Reese in double-double territory with 10 points and 11 assists for the Dream, who hosted at larger State Farm Arena — home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks — instead of their usual venue in nearby College Park.