Wallace scores career-high 17 points to lead Dream to rout of struggling Mercury

Kristy Wallace had 17 points to lead five Atlanta players scoring in double figures and the Dream beat the visiting Phoenix Mercury 82-54 on Sunday.

The 28-point margin of victory was Atlanta’s largest since beating the Los Angeles Sparks by 30 in 2015.

Kristy Wallace is a bucket, don’t sleep. 😅 pic.twitter.com/4ti2PqK7z3

—@AtlantaDream

Erica Wheeler scored 16 points, Cheyenne Parker had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Rhyne Howard had 12 points with six assists for Atlanta (5-3). Aari McDonald finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

The Dream never trailed, took at 12-point lead at the end of the first quarter and limited Phoenix (2-6) to just eight points in the second to take a 50-23 lead into halftime.

Diamond DeShields, the only Mercury player to score in double figures, finished with 23 points. Skylar Diggins-Smith (19.2 points per game) and Diana Taurasi (16.0) — the team’s top scorers — combined for nine points on 3-of-17 shooting.

Phoenix has lost five consecutive games. The club has been missing star players Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February on drug charges, and Canadian Kia Nurse, out with a long-term knee injury sustained last season.