Rhyne Howard backs up talk, clinches playoffs for Dream over Wings

After Rhyne Howard called out the Atlanta Dream fans after a loss Wednesday, the three-time All-Star played like one Friday night in Atlanta with 24 points in a 100-78 win against the Dallas Wings.

Howard played motivated basketball after she ridiculed the local fans for chanting MVP for Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson on Wednesday night. She finished with five assists, four rebounds and a career high six blocks on top of 6-of-11 shooting from deep. The Atlanta (25-14) star shot only 2-of-10 in the previous game from three-point range. Allisha Gray added 19 points and veteran Brionna Jones scored 16 in the win.

Atlanta had a scare in the second quarter when MVP candidate Gray, who locked up the franchise record for most points in a season, and soon after took an inadvertent knock to the face by Diamond Miller. After defending a Miller layup, Gray went to the ground and as Miller rebounded the loose ball and went up for a layup, Miller's knee collided with the guard's face. It required her to leave for the rest of the half.

Dallas (9-31) got off to a hot start in the return of rookie star Paige Bueckers after missing a loss to the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday due to illness but could not hold off the Dream offense. In the second quarter, the Wings had a five-point lead which Atlanta responded with a 13-point run.

In the third quarter, Dallas trimmed the Atlanta advantage to four points but could not stop the Dream in the fourth quarter, with the home side scoring the first 10 points of the final quarter and pushing their lead to a game-high 15 points.

Maddy Siegrist led the Wings with 23 points in the loss, and made three of Dallas' five 3-point shots of the night. In Bueckers' return, the rookie had a double-double, her second of the season, with 16 points and 10 assists despite still looking under the weather in pre-game warm-ups.

The Atlanta win clinches the Dream's spot in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs. They join the Aces and Minnesota Lynx as the only three teams to secure their place in the postseason so far.

--Field Level Media