The 2026 WNBA playoffs continued Wednesday when the Atlanta Dream pulled away from the Washington Mystics in the fourth quarter for a 93-75 win in Game 2 of their first-round matchup. With the win, the Dream completed a two-game sweep and advanced to the semifinals, where they’ll face the New York Liberty.
Still to come on Wednesday is Game 2 between the Golden State Valkyries and Dallas Wings. The Valkyries dominated Game 1, and the Wings must win at home to keep their season alive.
Here are some winners and losers from the latest night of WNBA playoff action:
Winner: Dream end a 13-year drought
Last season, the Dream won a franchise-record 30 games, but blew a 1-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs against the Indiana Fever and were bounced in the first round for the third consecutive season. In the offseason, the Dream made a major trade to acquire Angel Reese, which they hoped would turn them into an actual contender.
Time will tell if the Dream can win it all, but they’ve made the all-important first step. By sweeping the Mystics, the Dream have won a multi-game playoff series for the first time since 2013, which was the last time they went to the Finals. (They won a single-elimination “series” in 2016 under a previous version of the playoff format. They also played in the semifinals in 2018 when they received a bye to that round.)
Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, two of the longest-tenured members of the Dream, who had been around for all of the recent first-round exits, both delivered on Wednesday. Gray finished with a team-high 22 points and four steals, while Howard put up 15 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals despite battling foul trouble. Reese, for her part, had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks after a tough 4 of 15 shooting performance in her first-ever playoff outing in Game 1.
The Dream will now face a Liberty team that they beat twice in a row to end the regular season, and will have home-court advantage thanks to the Liberty’s upset over the Minnesota Lynx. Whatever happens from here, Wednesday’s victory was an important moment for the franchise and this core, which is all signed through at least 2027.
Loser: The officials
The Dream and Mystics are two of the biggest, most physical teams in the league. During the regular season, the Mystics led the league in free throw rate (0.379) and the Dream were third (0.341), while the Dream were also 11th in opponent free throw rate (0.317) and the Mystics were 14th in pace (94.66).
As expected, this matchup turned into a slog, in part due to how the officials were calling the action — particularly in Game 2.
The Mystics were called for 27 fouls on Wednesday, while the Dream were whistled for 26. This was the first time since Game 2 of the 2016 semifinal series between the Lynx and Phoenix Mercury that both teams were called for at least 25 fouls in a playoff game. Rhyne Howard fouled out and 14 players had at least three fouls, including every starter on both teams. The only player on either team who played at least 10 minutes and didn’t have at least three fouls was Lauren Betts.
The Mystics went 24 of 28 from the free throw line, while the Dream were 20 of 22 for a combined 50 free throw attempts. The 28 free throw attempts were nowhere near a record, however. (The Sacramento Monarchs shot a playoff-record 47 free throws in a first-round win in 2001.)
Perhaps the most remarkable note of the night on the officiating front was that there were just four stretches in the entire game where play continued for at least two minutes without a foul, and three of them were in the second quarter.
These two teams put the refs in a tough spot, but they were too whistle-happy in Game 2.
