Naz

Hillmon

Despite replacing Brittney Griner in the Dream starting lineup at the beginning of August, Hillmon was eligible for Sixth Player of the Year due to having played more games as a reserve than as a starter. Receiving 44 first-place votes, she averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 three-pointers in 25.5 minutes. Rounding out the top five in voting were Minnesota’s Natisha Hiedeman and Jessica Shepard, Seattle’s Dominique Malonga and Phoenix’s Sami Whitcomb.

Canada has put a lot of pressure on the rim and was incredibly efficient scoring the basketball. She couldn’t be stopped by the Fever’s perimeter defense as she scored often on Lexie Hull, Aeriel Powers and Kelsey Mitchell. Canada also made some incredibly difficult and shifty shots on her drives into the paint. But in addition to Canada’s scoring, she registered 10 assists and she distributed the ball to five different players in Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard, Brionna Jones, Brittney Griner and Naz Hillmon. Between her scoring and assists, Canada was responsible for 41 of the Dream’s total 85 points, which over 48%.

Hillmon was one of the Dream’s more productive players on Sunday, as she shot efficiently throughout the game en route to scoring in double figures. She outscored the Fever’s starting frontcourt singlehandedly while also providing a great impact on the defensive end of the floor, where she combined for four stocks and did a good job on the glass in the process. Hillmon ultimately fell one rebound shy of a double-double, and with similar production on Tuesday, the Dream could be in a good position to end the series with a Game 2 victory.

Like with Allisha Gray, Dream head coach Karl Smesko limited Jones’ minutes so that she’s fresh come playoffs. Even in 16 minutes played, Jones was super efficient. All but one of her scores were assisted by her teammates with Naz Hillmon, Te-Hina Paopao and Allisha Gray finding her being guarded by a smaller defender. Jones finished her 2025 regular season campaign as the league’s leader in offensive rebounds with 136. This was the fifth most in a season in WNBA history.

Gray had a limited amount of shots on Wednesday night, but that probably is a result of the MVP candidate being on very top of the Sun’s scouting report. But also, head coach Karl Smesko was intentional about her minutes. She only played in 20 minutes, a minute total Gray probably will surpass in each playoff game she plays in beginning this Sunday. Gray didn’t get downhill as much as she usually does but rather just capitalized off of the Sun’s missed rotations on the perimeter. All of Gray’s field goals came on passes from either Rhyne Howard, Maya Caldwell or Te-Hina Paopao. Gray functioned much more as a facilitator on Wednesday night as she had five assists where she found Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner on lob passes in the post along with extra passes to Naz Hillmon and Howard who were more open than she was on the perimeter.

Hillmon continued to show off her improved three-point shot, tying a team-high in makes on Monday while finishing as one of five Dream players to score at least 10 points. The fourth-year forward has now made multiple three-point shots in each of the last four games, while also adding at least five rebounds and two assists in each game over that time. Equally as impressive against the Sun was her work on the defensive end, where she tallied multiple steals for the first time all season and a third of Atlanta’s 12 team steals. Hillmon has provided steady scoring, floor spacing, and rebounding as the full-time starter alongside Brionna Jones and should continue to contribute in Wednesday’s regular-season finale and during the postseason.

Jones’ scoring output was more muted on Friday night, with only seven shot attempts compared to 11 or more in each of her last five games. In typical Jones fashion she was still quite efficient only missing twice as she scored the basketball on super tight seals in the paint. She out-muscled Sparks front court players Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson and Azurá Stevens all within four feet of the basket to score the ball. Jones was just one rebound short of a double-double and she and Naz Hillmon led the team in rebounding with nine each.

Without Allisha Gray playing for a second straight game, the scoring came from Howard who tied two season highs in points scored and three-pointers made on Friday night. She hit four of her nine total three-pointers in the first quarter alone. All but one of Howard’s nine threes were assisted with passes coming from bigs Naz Hillmon and Brionna Jones and guards Jordin Canada and Te-Hina Paopao. Howard also had six assists herself to five different players including Jones, Brittney Griner, Maya Caldwell, Hillmon and Paopao. She kicked the ball to Hillmon and Caldwell for threes while finding Paopao cutting and Jones and Griner in their sweet spots less than ten feet from the basket.

After shooting 3-of-7 from three in an August 10 win over Phoenix, Hillmon shot 2-of-25 in the eight games that followed. To say she needed a performance like the one put forth against the Sun would be an understatement, given that extended slump. Hillmon, who moved into the starting lineup for good at the beginning of August, has only shot 16.3 percent from three as a starter. However, she can offer value as a floor-spacer alongside Brionna Jones (10/11/1/2/1), even if the percentage does not back that up.

In the minutes where Brionna Jones really struggled to begin the game, Dream head coach Karl Smeskso deployed back-up center Brittney Griner to play in her place and steady the Dream offense. Griner has at least six inches on Myisha Hines-Allen in height so she was able to exploit that matchup in ways that Jones struggled to. Griner scored 9 of her 11 total points in the first half on looks right in the paint. Griner also had two assists, two dump down passes to Allisha Gray and to Naz Hillmon. Both assists came off well timed off-ball movement from Gray and Hillmon as Griner brought the defense into the paint and found her teammates where the Wings defense wasn’t.