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Naz Hillmon Reveals What Changed for Dream Offense in Game 3 of WNBA Finals
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- Naz Hillmon Reveals What Changed for Dream Offense in Game 3 of WNBA Finals
(Brett Davis-Imagn Images)
Naz Hillmon scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting Wednesday night in the Atlanta Dream's 97-71 win over the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at State Farm Arena.
She made 3 of 5 3-point attempts. The 6 field goals and 3 made 3-pointers were both career playoff highs, according to the league's postgame notes. Hillmon also had 2 rebounds in 27 minutes and finished plus-17.
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Atlanta leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.
The Valkyries had cut a 9-1 deficit to 13-10 late in the first quarter. Allisha Gray found Hillmon for a 3-pointer with 2:18 left, and Jordin Canada set up another 36 seconds later. The two shots were part of a 10-2 Dream run, per the league, and Atlanta led 23-15 after the quarter.
Hillmon's third 3-pointer came off another Canada pass with 29.6 seconds left in the first half, putting the Dream ahead 46-37.
Smesko Praises Hillmon's Less Obvious Impact
Dream coach Karl Smesko had brought up Hillmon before the game, too.
"I think she's been fantastic the whole series, the whole playoffs," Smesko said. "In the pregame, I talked about how many plays she makes that nobody notices, like from creating the spacing or the screen that creates the advantage or the cut that opens up things behind — defensively, or communication and her ball screen defense as a lead."
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"And then today, she caught it down and ready to shoot it, knocked it down early," Smesko continued. "Got it going, scored on some cuts. It was just a fantastic game by her."
Two of her baskets came on cuts. Gray assisted a cutting layup with 34.1 seconds left in the third quarter for a 71-57 lead, and Angel Reese found Hillmon on another cut to open the fourth.
She did not miss a shot in the second half, going 3-of-3.
Hillmon's Shooting Opens the Floor
The rest of the Dream shot 4-of-15 from 3-point range. Hillmon and Reese combined to go 5-of-7.
Atlanta made 9 of 22 3-pointers. Hillmon said the makes helped her teammates, too.
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"I think our threes were huge, very timely," Hillmon said. "But I think they also helped to open up our teammates. Once we're knocking them down, you can't continue to help into the [paint] … or crowd the paint for Jordin. So definitely opened up things that we've been working on all year long, and it was nice to see them fall tonight."
Atlanta had 44 points in the paint to Golden State's 20. The Dream shot 49.3% from the field, the first time either team had cleared 35% in a game in the series.
Bonner Helps Set the Tone
The Valkyries scored 8 of the first 10 points of the second half and tied the game at 48 and again at 49. Atlanta then finished the quarter on a 22-8 run.
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DeWanna Bonner had 5 points during the run. Her 3-pointer with 3:03 left pushed the lead back to 62-55, and her turnaround jumper made it 66-55 a minute later.
Before Dream coaches reach the huddle, Bonner is already talking.
"A lot like Angel, she brings that energy every single day," Hillmon explained. "Since she got here, she continues to pour into each and every player. Before coach comes into the huddle, she's always talking. Speaking of that third quarter, who was pulling us together? It was DB."
"She's not shy to cuss us out when we need it, but she's also there to continue to pour into each and every one of us," Hillmon added. "And I think that that's huge when you have another coach on the floor."
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Bonner finished with 7 points and 4 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. She shot 3-of-4 and was plus-17.
Canada had 8 assists, 3 of them to Hillmon. That gave her 104 career playoff assists, passing Angel McCoughtry for the most in franchise history, according to the league.
Game 4 is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.
