Atlanta ruled Allisha Gray out of Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals against New York on Wednesday night. She hurt her left hand in the first quarter of Game 1, briefly returned, then went down again diving for a loose ball after 11 minutes and did not come back.
Head coach Karl Smesko said Gray had an X-ray on a finger and is day-to-day. This is the first game she will miss all season.
Atlanta leads the series 1-0 after a 92-82 win on Sunday. The Dream now have to protect that lead without their regular-season leading scorer.
DeWanna Bonner is the reason this might be survivable
Bonner came off the bench in Game 1 and put up 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in 30 minutes. She is averaging 14.3 points on 53.3 percent shooting across three playoff games.
She is expected to start in Gray’s place. Izzy Borlase, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Te-Hina Paopao should all see more minutes.
A team losing a four-time All-Star normally has a problem. Atlanta has a veteran who just scored 23 off the bench in a playoff game and is shooting better than 53 percent. That is a cushion most teams do not have.
Game 1 was won by the people who are still available
Jordin Canada scored 25 on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, with four assists and five steals. That was reported as tied for the third-highest-scoring game of her career. Atlanta outscored New York 32-15 in the third quarter.
Rhyne Howard shot 5-of-20 and the Dream won by 10 anyway. New York committed 21 turnovers.
So the game plan that produced a Game 1 win did not depend much on Gray, who played 11 minutes. That is luck rather than design, and it is still relevant to Wednesday.
The Gray context is worth stating
She had never reached a semifinal before this season despite seven prior playoff appearances. She finally got here, got hurt in the first quarter of the first game, and is day-to-day with a finger injury.
If Atlanta advances and she returns, that is a fine story. If the Dream lose this series without her, it is a rough one.
The other series has its own injury
Golden State leads Las Vegas 1-0 after a 71-60 win in which Gabby Williams scored 25 on 9-of-18 with 11 rebounds, five assists and four threes. The Aces’ 60 points and 33.9 percent shooting were both season lows, and A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray combined for 51 points on 17-of-50.
Jewell Loyd left Game 1 in the third quarter with a leg injury and has been described as doubtful for Game 2, though that designation has not been confirmed. Stephanie Talbot has not played since a left-leg injury in the first round.
Both semifinals are best-of-five. Liberty at Dream is 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Aces at Valkyries follows at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Game 3s are Friday.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
