The Atlanta Dream erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and beat the Dallas Wings 82-81 on Wednesday, with Allisha Gray taking over late and finishing with a game-high 25 points. Gray calmly made all three free throws after Arike Ogunbowale’s flagrant foul with 18 seconds left, then hit the game-winning jumper while Atlanta kept possession.
That finish is why Paige Bueckers stats drew interest in a game that turned on more than one star. Bueckers helped the Wings early and later added a step-back three-pointer and pressure-packed free throws in the fourth quarter, while Azzi Fudd buried back-to-back triples in the third quarter and Angel Reese controlled the paint for Atlanta.
The result pushed the Dream to 17-10, gave them a fourth straight victory and completed a season sweep of the Wings. It also showed the All-Star break did little to slow Atlanta, which has played with the look of a team that expects to stay in the race with the league’s best.
The late sequence was the difference after Dallas spent most of the night in control. A flagrant foul is more than an ordinary shooting mistake: because Ogunbowale’s closeout was judged reckless, Gray got three free throws instead of a standard trip to the line, and Atlanta kept the ball after the foul sequence. That combination turned a one-possession finish into a momentum swing Dallas could not recover from.
Atlanta now turns to Seattle Storm on Friday, with the larger question no longer whether the Dream can hang with top teams, but whether this late-game edge is becoming their identity.
