Recaps: Dream playoff-bound with Tuesday victory

Eight teams were in action Tuesday night, including the top three teams in the WNBA. Here’s what happened.

Atlanta Dream 109, Las Vegas Aces 100

A dominant fourth quarter propelled the second-place Dream to a commanding victory and a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Led by 22-point efforts from Alex Bentley and Elizabeth Williams as well as Eastern Conference Player of the Week Tiffany Hayes’ 21 points, Atlanta shot 53.8 percent en route to a season-high (and franchise-record) 109 points. For the Aces, Kelsey Plum had her second straight 20-point effort to lead the team in scoring, followed by Kayla McBride’s 19 and A’ja Wilson’s 18. Las Vegas now brings a four-game losing streak home after their canceled August 3 game against the Mystics was scored as a forfeit.

Seattle Storm 94, Indiana Fever 79

After a slow first quarter that saw Indiana leading by five, Seattle took the reins and never looked back as they surged to their fifth straight victory. Natasha Howard led the Storm with 19 points, Breanna Stewart had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Sue Bird added 16 points to go with 8 assists. During this game, Bird became the WNBA’s all-time leader in minutes played, passing Tina Thompson. The Fever were led by Candice Dupree’s 22 points and 8 rebounds and Victoria Vivians’ 15 points. This victory marked the first time in Seattle franchise history that the Storm beat the Fever in consecutive games in Indiana.

Minnesota Lynx 85, Chicago Sky 64

Despite being down nine points after the first quarter, Minnesota emphatically ended a three-game losing streak as they comfortably won every other quarter to win in Chicago. Maya Moore led all scorers with 31 points, Sylvia Fowles had 15 points to go with 11 rebounds and Danielle Robinson scored 12 points and had 11 assists. While all of Minnesota’s starters scored in double figures, their bench scored just 6 points. For the Sky, Allie Quigley led the team with 22 points (including 4-of-7 shooting from three), Courtney Vandersloot had 11 points to go with 7 assists and Cheyenne Parker added 10 points off the bench.

Washington Mystics 103, Phoenix Mercury 98

Washington extended their road win streak to four games as they edged out the Mercury on Tuesday night. In one sense, this game was a battle of two dominant duos: Elena Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver combined for 55 points (Delle Donne had 30, Toliver had 25) for the winning side, while Brittney Griner (game-high 35) and Diana Taurasi (29) combined for 64 points. But both teams shot 50 percent or better for the game and featured further high-scoring efforts in LaToya Sanders’ 19 for Washington and DeWanna Bonner’s 20 for Phoenix. Griner played the entire game for Phoenix, further showing off her recovery from back spasms that slowed her down around the All-Star break.