ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray has been ruled out of Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals Wednesday night because of a hand injury.
Gray, a four-time All-Star and Atlanta’s leading scorer during the regular season, injured her left hand during the first quarter of Atlanta’s 92-82 Game 1 victory over the New York Liberty. She briefly returned to action after going to the locker room, but went down a second time after diving for a loose ball and did not return.
“Allisha’s out tomorrow,” coach Karl Smesko said at his Tuesday media availability. “She had an appointment today and is day-to-day after that. She’s had an X-ray on her finger, but I don’t have any more information to give regarding it.”
Wednesday will be the first game Gray has missed this season, but Atlanta got key contributions off the bench to shoulder the scoring burden. DeWanna Bonner scored 23 points in 30 minutes in an expanded role, and is the likely candidate to assume Gray’s spot in the starting lineup. Guard Izzy Borlase, who played 10 minutes off the bench Sunday, could see a potentially expanded role with a thinner guard rotation.
“We’ll have to see how, kind of, the game goes,” Smesko said. “But Izzy, Tori (Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), Pao (Te-Hina Paopao), they may get some more rotational minutes depending on how the game plays out. How New York handles their rotations as well will be a factor in it.”
Paopao played four minutes off the bench in the series opener, while Walker-Kimbrough has played only one minute in Atlanta’s three postseason games.
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