Atlanta Made the First Argument

Atlanta opened with the kind of pressure that makes a home team start checking whether the scoreboard is personally offended. Rhyne Howard hit four three-pointers in the early stretch, and the Dream built an 11-point lead before Phoenix could settle into the game.

Phoenix answered with enough offense to keep the night alive. Kahleah Copper scored 38 points, and Alyssa Thomas finished with 11 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists for a triple-double. This was not a Mercury team that lacked a counter. It was a Mercury team that kept needing another one.

Reese Turned Every Miss Into a Second Meeting

Angel Reese scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. She supplied 13 of those points in the fourth quarter, when Atlanta needed someone to turn a close game into a controlled one.

The Dream led 73-68 after three quarters. That five-point margin was small enough for Copper to threaten and large enough for Atlanta to know exactly what the final period was asking: finish the possessions, keep the paint occupied, and stop treating every Phoenix run like a fresh emergency.

Reese did that work without making the ending theatrical. She made the game heavier. Phoenix had to guard the rim, finish the rebound, and then survive the next Atlanta action.

Phoenix Kept Showing Up a Little Too Late

The Mercury’s scoring kept the game within reach, but Atlanta’s early three-point burst created the margin that Phoenix spent the rest of the night chasing. The Dream did not need to win every stretch. They needed to make Phoenix pay for the stretches it lost.

The Desk’s Fourth-quarter competence grade was an A-. Atlanta outscored Phoenix 26-21 in the final period, which is a much better way to protect a five-point lead than staring at it and hoping it behaves.

The Desk Has Ruled

Atlanta’s fast lane is dangerous when Howard bends the defense and Reese owns the extra possession. Phoenix brought enough star power to make the result interesting, but not enough control to make it reversible.

The Dream get the win and the momentum. The Mercury get a box score that says 89 points and a film session that says those points still had to arrive on Atlanta’s schedule.