BROOKLYN, NY – Atlanta Dream guard Alisha Gray suffered a finger injury on her left hand that will keep her out for the second consecutive game in Game 3 of the semifinals against the New York Liberty on Friday night.
Gray, the top scorer for the No. 4 seed Dream, had the last two fingers of his shooting hand taped during pregame workouts and also participated in the open portion of shootarounds Friday morning before being ruled out.
Gray missed Game 2 on Wednesday after suffering an injury in Game 1, playing only 11 minutes.
“She’s been making good progress since the injury, but out of an abundance of caution, they ruled her out for today,” Dream coach Carl Smesko said before Game 3.
Asked if Gray’s injury was a matter of pain management, Smesko said, “I didn’t really get any other information. She went through a workout, and they told me she was out.”
Atlanta has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. No team has come back to win a series from a 2–0 deficit in WNBA playoff history.
Gray, a 6-foot guard and four-time All-Star from South Carolina, averaged 19.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals while appearing in all 44 regular-season games this year. She was also the Dream’s top scorer (22.0 ppg) during the first-round sweep of the No. 5 seed Washington Mystics, as Atlanta clinched its first semifinal berth since 2018.
Atlanta is one win from advancing to its first WNBA Finals since 2013.