Tina Charles, Rhyne Howard power Dream to 80-62 victory over Sparks

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tina Charles had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Rhyne Howard scored 19 and the Atlanta Dream beat the Los Angeles Sparks 80-62 on Sunday night to pull into a tie for the final WNBA playoff spot.

Charles shot 11 for 17 shots from the floor for Atlanta (11-21) on the way to her 13th double-double of the season. She made five 3-pointers and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Dream end a three-game skid.

Allisha Gray had 12 points and Naz Hillmon pitched in with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Dream, who tied Chicago for the last playoff spot after the Sky lost 79-74 to the Minnesota Lynx earlier Sunday.

Li Yueru had 14 points to lead Los Angeles (7-25). Rookie Rickea Jackson scored 13 on 5-for-16 shooting.

Howard opened the game with a 3-pointer and Charles followed with three straight baskets as Atlanta jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Odyssey Sims hit a jumper for Los Angeles to end the run, but Charles had 14 points and Howard scored nine by the end of the first quarter for a 25-12 advantage.

The duo combined for 32 points and 10 rebounds by halftime and Atlanta led 46-30.

Gray made a 3-pointer to begin the third quarter, Hillmon and Charles had back-to-back baskets and Atlanta scored the first seven points to push its lead to 23. The Sparks fell behind by 27 before a 10-2 run over the final 4:26 cut the deficit to 64-45 with one quarter to play.

Rae Burrell scored five points and Kia Nurse buried a 3-pointer in a 10-4 spurt to get the Sparks toi 68-55 with 6:32 left to play, but they got no closer.

The Sparks snapped a seven-game losing streak their last time out with a 94-88 victory over the visiting New York Liberty, who have the best record in the league.

UP NEXT

Atlanta: At Phoenix on Tuesday.

Los Angeles: At Indiana on Wednesday.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball