Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Wings vs. Atlanta Dream Game Recap 

Even though the game was held at Gateway Center Arena in Georgia, the Atlanta Dream came into their matchup with Dallas Wings as slight underdogs. And a lot of online gambling NY sites like Fanduel have taken off since the beginning of the year, and anyone interested in this contest found the Wings to be favored at -186, while the Dream were underdogs at +155.

With their home fans in the building to support them, the Dream was able to take down their Western Conference opponent by a final score of 80-75. Atlanta flipped the script on Dallas, who is usually a proficient three-point shooting team. The Dream logged ten threes on the evening, compared to the Wings, who only made six. Atlanta’s Maya Caldwell connected on four shots from long distances to her team-high 18 points. 

Teammate Cheyenne Parker had a well-rounded performance to lead Atlanta to victory. She was a force in the paint, hauling seven rebounds and blocking three shots. She is currently sixth in the league in total shots blocked. Parker also contributed to the Dream’s hot shooting, making two shots from three-point range. 

Atlanta jumped on Dallas early on, as they built an 11-point lead heading into halftime. However, Dallas was able to make a run in the third quarter, outscoring the Dream 26-16 in the period. The Wings could stay in the game due to their ability to convert opportunities at the free-throw line. Dallas got to the charity stripe 26 times on the night, with Allisha Gray and Isabelle Harrison combining to make all 10 free throw attempts.

This was a much-needed victory for the Dream, which had been struggling recently. They had dropped their previous four games, including blowout losses to the Connecticut Sun and the Seattle Storm. The win keeps them squarely in the WNBA playoff mix. 

The two teams started the WNBA regular season against one another, with the Dream taking that matchup by a final score of 66-59. Dallas will hope to get in the win column when they play again on July 30.

While they probably are not a legitimate contender to win the league title this season, the future is pretty bright for the franchise. Rookie guard Rhyne Howard has been everything the Dream could’ve hoped for when they selected her with the number one overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft. The former Kentucky star averages over 16 points per game, including an impressive 38.6 percent from the three-point range. Howard scored 16 points against the Wings but only shot 5-19 from the field. According to some, she has a chance to be a WNBA All-Star starter in her first year in the professional ranks. Fans of the WNBA game would have liked to see Howard and other phenomenal prospects play at the highest level sooner.

The Wings’ offense had been hot coming into the game, averaging 92.5 points per night in their past two games in victories against the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury. While they sputtered a little bit against Atlanta, their track record shows that they are never out of a game due to how quickly they can score points in bunches. In particular, Arike Ogunbowale has proven to be one of the most lethal scorers in the league. She’s averaged 19 .7 points per game in her career and made a couple of dazzling shots with a hand in her face against the Dream. 

Atlanta will remain home for their next two games as they prepare to host the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun. Meanwhile, Dallas will return to Texas for two home games of their own, against the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury.