With visions of playoffs, Dream aim to best Mercury again

The Atlanta Dream are getting healthy and making a playoff push.

The Dream (10-17) lost their final eight games before the break for the Paris Olympics, but they are 3-0 since as they prepare to host the Phoenix Mercury on Friday in College Park, Ga.

Atlanta beat the visiting Mercury 72-63 on Wednesday to pull within one game of the Chicago Sky for the final playoff spot.

"I think everybody has bought in," said guard Allisha Gray, who scored a team-high 21 points on Wednesday. "We worked really hard during the Olympic break and it's a great turnaround and it's nice to have everybody back and healthy. That makes it even more enjoyable."

Fellow guards Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada are healthy after missing 10 games and 20 games, respectively, this season.

Atlanta center Tina Charles had 12 points Wednesday to pass Tina Thompson as the No. 2 scorer in NBA history. She added a season-high 17 rebounds and the Dream had a 47-33 advantage on the boards, including a 16-3 edge in offensive rebounds.

"I thought it was a good team win for us," head coach Tanisha Wright said. "We didn't shoot the ball well but I thought defensively we did some good things to help us get the win. I'm really proud of our defensive effort."

Atlanta held a 19-6 lead after holding Phoenix (15-14) to its lowest first-quarter point total this season.

"Obviously the offensive rebounds were an issue," Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. "They competed on the defensive end and made it tough for us. We were maybe a step slow and didn't really get going until the third quarter and then they went on a run."

Kahleah Copper scored a game-high 22 points for Phoenix and Brittney Griner added 14 points and eight rebounds, but that wasn't enough to prevent a second loss in three games. Phoenix sits in sixth place in the standings.

"We've got to come up with a remedy to be better offensively," Tibbetts said. "We were a little bit disjointed offensively. We want to be playing good basketball, consistent basketball and we're not doing that right now. We'll be better on Friday."

--Field Level Media