Dream Advance, Mystics’ Season Ends in 93-75 Game 2 Loss

The Atlanta Dream eliminated the Washington Mystics from the WNBA Playoffs with a 93-75 win Wednesday night, completing a 2-0 first-round sweep. Atlanta never trailed, forced 19 turnovers, converted them into 23 points, and pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Canada’s late shooting.

Allisha Gray led the Dream with 22 points and four steals. Jordin Canada nearly had a triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Rhyne Howard and Angel Reese added 15 apiece, and Naz Hillmon scored 10.

Washington got 25 points from second-year guard Sonia Citron, who scored at all three levels and went 10-of-11 at the free throw line. Kiki Iriafen was a force on the glass with 15 points and 16 rebounds, 12 of them on the defensive end. Michaela Onyenwere scored 12 and Cassandre Prosper gave the Mystics 10 off the bench. None of it mattered against the turnovers.

The Mystics coughed it up 19 times, and Atlanta turned those mistakes into 23 points. Washington scored only 8 off the Dream’s 8 turnovers. Atlanta also won fast-break points 11-0 and steals 10-3. Washington won the rebounding battle 42-27, including 12 offensive boards, and outscored Atlanta 12-7 in second-chance points. They still couldn’t overcome giving the ball away that often.

“Just disappointment, frustration, for sure,” one Mystics player said afterward. “It’s not how we wanted our season to end.”

Atlanta set the tone early. Canada hit a three off a turnover in the first minute, Gray and Howard followed from deep, and the Dream led 12-4 before Washington found any rhythm. Canada closed the first quarter with a driving reverse layup and a free throw at the buzzer, and Atlanta led 24-17.

The second quarter belonged to the Dream until the final stretch. Hillmon opened with a three, Gray buried another off a turnover, and a Reese fast-break layup made it 41-28 with under 90 seconds left. Washington answered with seven straight points, including an Iriafen putback and a Prosper three, to cut the halftime deficit to 41-35.

Prosper’s minutes were a deliberate call. Asked why she got the nod over Cotie, Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson pointed to her work against Atlanta’s guards and on the glass. “She’s really made them work and made it difficult,” Johnson said. “Offensive rebounding is a big part of what we do, and then she had the guts and the toughness to knock down some threes and attack the rim confidently. I just had a hunch she could help us, and I thought she did.”

The Mystics kept pushing in the third. A Citron stepback three made it 48-42 with 6:43 left, pulling Washington back within six. Atlanta answered right away. DeWanna Bonner hit a three, Izzy Borlase finished in transition, and Howard converted a driving and-one that pushed the lead to 63-48. Atlanta took a 65-58 lead into the fourth.

“This is one of the mentally toughest teams I’ve ever coached in my life,” Johnson said. “They never, ever, ever quit. I never have to worry about whether they’re going to keep playing.”

That’s when the Mystics made their last real push. Citron opened the fourth at the line and cut it to 65-60. Then the Dream responded with a 13-2 run. Hillmon scored twice in the paint, Reese went 2-for-2 at the line, Howard hit a stepback jumper, and Canada drilled a three that made it 78-62.

The teams combined for 53 fouls, and what followed was one of the stranger sequences of the night. Four straight possessions ended in offensive fouls in a 22-second span, two on each team. The last one was Howard’s sixth personal foul, and she went to the bench with 6:03 to play. Reese was also hit with a technical at the 4:08 mark after a block on Onyenwere, but Atlanta never lost control.

Johnson saved his frustration with the officiating for the series opener. “I thought game one was truly awful. I can’t stress that enough,” he said. “Game two was just a regular WNBA game, so it is what it is. There were calls we didn’t like. I’m sure there were calls they didn’t like.”

Canada put it away. She hit back-to-back threes, both assisted by Borlase, at 3:46 and 3:22. Then she added a pull-up jumper off a turnover to make it 89-70, the Dream’s biggest lead of the night. Both benches emptied in the final minute.

Atlanta shot 44.8 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three, going 13-of-32 from deep. They shot 20-of-22 at the free throw line, and their 23 assists against 8 turnovers tell the story of a team playing clean, connected basketball on the road. Reese finished a game-best plus-26 with seven rebounds and three blocks to go with her 15 points.

“I want to congratulate Atlanta for getting through the first round,” Johnson said. “They deserve credit for what they did.”

The advancement marks another milestone in a historic season for Atlanta. The Dream has advanced past the opening round of the WNBA Playoffs for the first time since 2018 and earned its first postseason series win since 2016.

For Washington, Georgia Amoore had a tough night, going 1-of-5 for two points. The Mystics shot 37.9 percent overall and 31.8 percent from three.

The Dream protected home court in Game 1 and took Game 2 in D.C. to close out the series and end Washington’s season, in front of a crowd that packed the building for the franchise’s first home playoff game in years. “D.C. showed up,” a Mystics player said. “We knew the crowd was going to help us, and they did.”

Even in the loss, the Mystics kept coming back to the same words: joy and love.

“We come in, we love each other, we have fun, we never lose our joy,” Citron said, fighting through emotion. “I think that’s super special. I don’t think that’s everywhere.”

Iriafen, who said her second season brought a bigger leadership role and more attention from opposing scouts, pointed to the group’s mindset. “We’re fearless every time we step on the court,” she said. “We think we can beat anyone, regardless of what stats say, regardless of what media says. We did not listen to any outside noise. We truly just banded together and found a way to win games.”

Johnson said the growth from training camp to the playoffs was hard to put into words. “I don’t even recognize this team,” he said. “Every single player has gotten better. It’s been a magical ride.”

And he made clear the culture isn’t going anywhere. “We won games. This wasn’t just some kumbaya thing going on,” Johnson said. “We won games and played for each other, and we were selfless and joyful. I want the world to know that’s how we roll in D.C., and you can win.”

“Next year we’re going to come back stronger and want more,” he added, “but we’re also going to hold to our culture: toughness, togetherness, and a little bit of love sprinkled in there.”