Allisha Gray, Dream roll previous Caitlin Clark-less Fever

Allisha Gray scored a game-high 23 points and added six rebounds and four assists as the Atlanta Dream posted a 77-58 victory over the visiting Indiana Fever on Tuesday.

Brionna Jones added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta (6-3), which won for the fifth time in six games. Nia Coffey chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Dream, who outrebounded Indiana 44-27.

Indiana (4-5) had its two-game winning streak snapped as superstar Caitlin Clark missed her fifth straight game with a quad injury.

Natasha Howard led the Fever with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while reserve Aari McDonald scored 14 points. Kelsey Mitchell had 11 points but shot just 5-for-16 from the field and missed all five of her 3-point attempts. Indiana shot 36.2 percent from the field and 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from beyond the arc.

Atlanta finished at 47 percent from the floor and 22.7 percent (5 of 22) from long distance.

The Dream broke a halftime tie with a 14-4 run to begin the third quarter — stamped with layups from Jones and Brittney Griner — to take a 47-37 lead.

After Mitchell’s layup pulled Indiana within nine in the final minute of the third, Gray’s triple and Jones’ layup extended Atlanta’s lead to 56-42 entering the final quarter.

Howard’s consecutive baskets cut the Fever’s deficit to 60-48 with less than seven minutes remaining, but Coffey’s 3-pointer began a 7-0 Atlanta spurt that build a commanding 19-point advantage at the five-minute mark.

Atlanta took a 22-19 lead into the second quarter before building its advantage to 31-27 on layups by Gray and Jones, the latter with 4:25 left in the first half.

Indiana answered with six straight points to take a 33-31 lead at the 1:36 mark. Gray’s putback layup with 18.1 seconds pulled Atlanta into a 33-33 halftime tie despite the Dream missing all eight of their 3-point attempts before the break.

Gray led all scorers with 13 first-half points, while McDonald paced Indiana with nine.

–Field Level Media