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Dream Coach Defends Shocking Rhyne Howard Decision Amid Historic Game

Atlanta Dream's Karl Smesko benched Rhyne Howard while she was on the verge of WNBA history.

Logan Struck

Aug 17, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) looks back at the referee in the second quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Aug 17, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) looks back at the referee in the second quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Dream continue to prove that they are one of the top teams in the WNBA, picking up a huge win over the LA Sparks on Friday night to extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 28-14 on the season.

Saturday's win was nothing short of dominant and historic, as they beat LA 104-85, despite superstar guard Allisha Gray being sidelined.

In Gray's absence, star guard Rhyne Howard put together one of the best performances of the 2025 WNBA season.

Howard's historic performance

In the win, Howard finished with 37 points, five rebounds, and six assists on 13-26 shooting from the field and 9-17 from three-point range. Howard's nine made three-pointers tied the record for the most in a game in WNBA history, as this was just the fifth instance that a player has reached that mark in a game.

However, Howard became the first player in WNBA history to make nine three-pointers in multiple games, and not only that, but she did it twice in one season.

With 17 three-point attempts, of course, Howard has plenty of chances to make her tenth shot from deep and break the record for good, but she just could not find that last shot. Howard had her ninth three-pointer before the third quarter ended, but in the fourth, she shot 0-3 from deep in attempts to break the record.

Did Howard get benched too early?

Of course, since the Dream were winning by so much, head coach Karl Smesko pulled his starters with a little over a minute left in the game. That included Howard, but they could have opted to give her the final minute to try to break the WNBA record for most three-pointers in a game.

Many fans would have liked to see Howard have a couple more shots to break the record, but Smesko ultimately made a business decision. After the game, he defended the decision to bench her while she was on the verge of history.

"It would be really tempting [to keep her in the game], and I'm really fortunate that I never know when someone's close to a record," Smesko said. "That'll be something we have to talk about going forward, because nobody told me where we were with that. I had a really good idea, like 'Oh she's really lighting it up,' but I don't know that she's at a career record or WNBA record."

Of course, it is not Smesko's job to know when someone is close to breaking a record or reaching a milestone, so he genuinely had no idea that Howard was one three-pointer away from reaching that mark. He does admit that if he knew, he likely would have kept her in the game.

"If somebody was going for something special and a record, and I knew about it, I would probably let them in a little bit longer."

Of course, since Howard seemed to have cooled off by the fourth quarter, who knows if she would have hit one in the final minute of the game. Still, it was a historic night for the All-Star guard nonetheless.

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Logan Struck
LOGAN STRUCK

Logan Struck is a writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's On SI since 2023

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