Kelsey Plum leads Mercury scorers in 1st start, Phoenix falls to Dream

Kelsey Plum scored 19 points in her first start for the Mercury, as Alyssa Thomas added 17 points and DeWanna Bonner posted a double-double in the loss.

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

Aug 5, 2026, 9:20 PM Updated: Aug 7, 2026, 11:35 am

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Kelsey Plum #0 of the Phoenix Mercury drives to the basket as Jordin Canada #3 of the Atlanta Dream tries for the steal during the fourth quarter at Gateway Center Arena on August 5, 2026 in College Park, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — Rhyne Howard had 23 points and eight assists, Allisha Gray added 20 points and the Atlanta Dream beat the Phoenix Mercury 96-82 on Wednesday night.

Howard made five of Atlanta’s 14 3-pointers, while Phoenix was just 7 for 24 (29%).

Angel Reese had 14 points and 10 rebounds for her 21st double-double of the season for Atlanta (19-11), which has won six of its last seven games. Jordin Canada set Atlanta’s single-season record for assists with 227, passing Layshia Clarendon’s mark in 2017.

Kelsey Plum scored 19 points in her first start for Phoenix (12-20), which never led. Alyssa Thomas scored 17 points, and DeWanna Bonner had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Gray made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Atlanta a 41-26 lead. She finished the first half with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and Howard added 15 to help Atlanta build a 54-47 lead.

Jaylyn Sherrod put Atlanta ahead 76-56 on a 3-pointer with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

The Mercury head to Connecticut next to face the Sun on Friday.