Atlanta Dream On SI

Allisha Gray’s Heartfelt Message to Atlanta Dream After Game 3 Loss to Fever

The Dream's superstar was very optimistic after a gut-wrenching loss to end their season.

Grant Mona

Aug 29, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) waves to the crowd after a victory over the Dallas Wings at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Aug 29, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) waves to the crowd after a victory over the Dallas Wings at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Game 3 of the first-round series against the Indiana Fever is going to hurt the Atlanta Dream all offseason. After a convincing win in Game 1, the Fever blew out Atlanta in Game 2 at home, forcing momentum and confidence to their side heading into the winner-take-all Game 3.

A late-game collapse by the Dream gave the Fever a close 87-85 victory on the road in Atlanta.

The Dream's Late Collapse

After Rhyne Howard hit a three-pointer to give the Dream an 85-80 lead with a little over two minutes left, it felt like Atlanta was going to cruise to a victory. However, they did not score again for the rest of the game.

The Fever, led by a strong defense, went on a 7-0 run to win the game, including key baskets from Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and the game-winning layup by Aliyah Boston.

Speaking of the Boston layup, a crucial mistake by the Dream on a broken play allowed the Fever to take a one-point lead.

On the ensuing possession for Atlanta, Lexie Hull stole the ball from Rhyne Howard on the inbounds play, sealing the win for Indiana and sending the Dream home in shock.

While Atlanta had one of the best offenses in the WNBA in the regular season, they struggled to generate good looks in the last two games of the series and ultimately fell short because of it.

Allisha Gray Sends Positive Message Following Loss

After the game, in an obviously distraught press conference, Allisha Gray shed some positivity on the season that the Dream had, despite the bad loss.

"Just the organization as a whole I mean it's in a great direction. Just with Karl, he has so much faith in us and we proved a lot of people wrong this year. A lot of people didn't expect us to play as well and be in the position that we are in, so I just credit "Big Wheeze" (Karl Smesko) for the turnaround," Gray said.

She continued to shout out her teammates saying, "I mean he did a great job this year and brought the vision and we believed in him and as players - it sucks that season ended, but I wouldn't pick another group to be around. I just love this team a lot and they're great people to be around. I mean it sucks we lost but I mean just being around the team - they're great people."

The Dream absolutely should hold their heads high. They won a franchise-record 30 games and were the third seed in the WNBA in the first year under head coach Karl Smesko.

Gray and Howard were All-Stars as well, and with a solid cast of role players around them, the Dream have a bright future.

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Grant Mona
GRANT MONA

Grant Mona is a multimedia sports journalist based in Los Angeles, covering multiple teams. He is a co-host and producer on The Sporting Tribune Today on The BET Las Vegas, KIRN 670 in Southern California and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network. He formerly played baseball with the University of the Pacific Tigers.

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