Allisha Gray Injury Update for Game 2 vs. Liberty Ups the Pressure on DeWanna Bonner
The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 in Game 1 of the semifinals despite losing Allisha Gray, their leading scorer from the regular season, to a hand injury in the first half. Gray played only 11 minutes and finished the game with 7 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal.
Veterans DeWanna Bonner and Jordin Canada stepped up to carry the Dream to their third consecutive playoff victory. They combined for 48 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 steals, and 1 block.
Head coach Karl Smesko shared in a media availability on Tuesday that Gray is ruled out for Game 2 and should be considered day-to-day afterwards.
Allisha Gray (finger) is out tomorrow but is day to day otherwise, per Karl Smesko
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) October 6, 2026
Losing Gray is a tough blow for a Dream team trying to protect its home court and go to New York with a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. It also puts a lot of pressure on 39-year-old DeWanna Bonner.
The win against New York marked the first time Bonner logged 30 minutes in a game since joining the Dream in late August. She regularly played heavy minutes for the Phoenix Mercury, but Smesko has preferred to use her as a scoring punch and steadying veteran presence off the bench, easing the 39-year-old’s minute load significantly.
Bonner started the second half of Sunday’s game in place of Gray and is likely to replace her in Game 2 as well. So, for the second game in a row, the Dream will have to ask Bonner to fill a different role and play heavy minutes. She is very capable of delivering in the biggest moments. The question is just whether she can hve monster performances in two consecutive games when Breanna Stewart and company will be desperate to steal a game in Atlanta.
Making up for Allisha Gray’s absence is no easy task
Bonner’s 23 points in Game 1 tied for the second-highest scoring mark of her season. She scored 25 in a two-point loss to the Liberty in August and 23 in a three-point loss to the Portland Fire when she was still with the Mercury. Her previous season high with the Dream was 17 points in a 95-84 win over New York.
Allisha Gray averaged 19 points during the regular season and scored 22 points in each of the Dream’s first-round games against the Washington Mystics. Her gravity as a 3-point shooter and ability to get to the rim are invaluable in the half-court. She also led the league in fast-break points per game in the regular season.
Bonner may not be able to replace exactly what Gray does in the starting lineup, but the Dream will need her to score at a high level and knock down some 3-pointers to make up for Gray’s absence. If she can replicate at least some of the dominant—and efficient—scoring she displayed in Game 1, and the team as a whole can replicate the defensive pressure it showed in the third quarter, the Dream may very well survive Gray’s absence.
Making up for Allisha Gray’s absence isn’t a one-person job. While Bonner will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting, others will have to step up as well.
Naz Hillmon was very impactful defensively against the Liberty’s frontcourt in Game 1, but she also didn’t score, missing both of her field-goal attempts. Hillmon is surrounded by great scorers and 3-point shooters, but she still needs to be more of an offensive threat with Gray out.
Moreover, Isobel Borlase has to be ready for an expanded role. She is the only reserve other than Bonner who played more than four minutes in Game 1. With Gray out and Bonner likely stepping into the starting lineup, Borlase is the most obvious candidate for some guard/wing minutes off the bench. She may not have a lot of WNBA experience, but she was named WNBL MVP for the 2025-26 season and took the Bendigo Spirit to the semifinals.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.