ATLANTA — Allisha Gray exited the first half twice during the Dream’s 92-82 win over the Liberty Sunday with a left hand injury.
Her availability for the remainder of the semifinals wasn’t immediately known.
Gray appeared to injure her pinky and ring fingers on her shooting hand on a deflection in the first quarter. She went down to the locker room while holding her hand.
Gray reappeared from the tunnel with her fingers taped up and reentered the game at the 8:30 mark of the second quarter.
After airballing a 3-point attempt, Gray pulled off the tape and threw it toward her team’s bench.
Despite the jacked-up hand, Gray’s defensive intensity didn’t waver. She dove on the floor for a loose ball and was credited with a steal. Gray stayed on the Liberty end of the floor while the play ensued on the other end.
She ultimately checked out of the game again and headed back to the locker room — this time for good.
Gray, the Dream’s leading scorer averaging 19 points per game, was ruled out before the end of the first half.
Dream coach Karl Smesko didn’t have an immediate update on Gray after the game.
“Hopefully she’ll be OK,” Smesko said. “Obviously, she’s been a huge reason we’ve been so successful this year, and it was tough to see her not out there, but really proud of how the team pulled together and how they played in the game.”
The Liberty didn’t know whether Han Xu would be available Sunday after she fell ill.
Han missed Saturday’s practice with a fever and was a game-time decision. She was still feeling under the weather Sunday.
“I know the team, they need me, and I want to be ready,” Han said. “But it’s hard to breathe a little bit, but I still try my best.”
Han, who had been a key contributor off the bench in New York’s first-round sweep, finished with three points and two rebounds in eight minutes.
Jonquel Jones lauded Han for pushing through.
“She’s locked in,” Jones said. “She does a really good job of coming in and just allowing me to have a good rest on the bench and to really just watching the game and see it from a different perspective, so she’s been great.”
Breanna Stewart said she’s willing to do whatever it takes to win — even if it means playing 40 minutes.
She did that Sunday for the second consecutive game, but the Liberty still lost.
Stewart has brushed off concern regarding possible burnout given her heavy minutes at the FIBA Women’s World Cup and in the WNBA.
“It’s tricky sometimes,” coach Chris DeMarco said. “It can be better to get the rest or in other cases, have [her] play closer in this game and there’s a rhythm to it, but yeah, we’re just going to continue to monitor it and make sure she’s good to go.”
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