Jordin Canada's Three-Point Play and the League Is STILL Talking About That Wild Atlanta Comeback!

Dude, you gotta hear about this game from Sunday afternoon down in College Park, Ga. Seriously, if you blinked, you missed the most insane rally you could imagine! The Atlanta Dream, who are now sitting pretty at 4-1, pulled off a ridiculously clutch 82-80 victory over the Phoenix Mercury. We're talking about a team that was down by a whopping 12 points with literally five minutes left on the clock. FIVE MINUTES! And they flipped the script completely. It was pure madness, the kind of gritty comeback that makes you wanna run through a wall!

Phoenix Thought They Had It Locked, Then Atlanta Woke Up

The Mercury, who are now struggling at 2-5, probably thought they had this one in the bag. Phoenix had a seven-point lead heading into halftime, and while the Dream chipped away early in the third with a 10-4 burst to get within one point, things got dicey again. Atlanta hit just one field goal over the final seven minutes of the third quarter, and Phoenix took a comfortable 57-49 lead into the fourth. Then, Alyssa Thomas, who had a monster game with 20 points, 12 boards, and seven assists, dropped a mid-range jumper to cap off a 7-0 Mercury run, extending their lead to 10 with 7:37 to go. It looked grim, like, really grim. Even after Te-Hina Paopao and Rhyne Howard hit back-to-back threes to cut it to 70-64, Angel Reese picked up a technical foul for arguing, and Kahleah Copper made the free throw to push Phoenix back up by nine at the 3:44 mark. That's usually where teams roll over, right? NOT THIS TIME.

Clutch Plays and a Finish for the Ages

But man, the Dream refused to quit. It was like they flipped a switch. Isobel Borlase drained a three-pointer to get them within two, and you could feel the momentum shifting. Then came the play that changed everything. After a challenge overturned a shooting foul call on Reese, Jordin Canada, who was phenomenal all game with 11 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals, hit a three-point play with just 1:03 left on the clock. That was it, their first lead since the 8:35 mark of the first quarter! Noemie Brochant missed a jumper for Phoenix, and Howard, who led the Dream with 21 points and eight rebounds, sunk another three to extend the lead to 79-75. Copper answered with a three, but then Reese made one foul shot, though she missed the second. But wait, Naz Hillmon snatched the offensive rebound, and Allisha Gray, who put up 18 points, calmly sunk both free throws to give Atlanta an 82-78 lead with only 7.9 seconds left. The Mercury still tried, with Reese fouling Copper on a three-point attempt with 3.5 seconds remaining. Copper hit the first two, and Natasha Mack grabbed the rebound on the intentionally missed third, but Phoenix just couldn't get another shot off before the buzzer. Unreal! What a win! To be down by that much, that late, and pull it off? That shows some serious fight. This 4-1 start is no fluke, they're showing incredible resilience early in the season. You gotta love seeing that kind of heart and hustle.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.