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UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 23 points, Naz Hillmon and Allisha Gray each added 17 points, and the Atlanta Dream closed on a 17-2 run to beat the Connecticut Sun 93-76 on Monday.
Atlanta (26-14), which is headed to the playoffs for a third straight year, moved into a second-place tie with Las Vegas (26-14) in the WNBA standings with four games to play. The Dream have not won a playoff game since the 2018 season.
Connecticut was within 76-74 with 5:07 remaining before Atlanta scored the next 17 points. Howard and Jordin Canada each scored six points during the run, and Hillmon added the other five.
Canada finished with 15 points off the bench and Brionna Jones had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta.
Tina Charles led Connecticut (10-30) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Leila Lacan added 17 points, Marina Mabrey had 12 and Saniya Rivers 10.
Charles, Mabrey and Lacan each scored in double figures in the first half to help Connecticut build a 48-42 lead. The Sun closed the first half on an 8-0 run, with five points from Lacan.
Canada completed a three-point play with 4.4 seconds left in the third quarter to give Atlanta a 67-64 lead. But Rivers raced the other way to just get a shot up before the buzzer to get the Sun within one.
It was the first of three matchups between Atlanta and Connecticut in the final five games of the regular season.
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