ATLANTA — Rhyne Howard scored 19 points, Brionna Jones had 16 points and 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Sparks 86-75 on Wednesday night to move into sole possession of second place in the WNBA standings.

The Sparks (19-21) trails Indiana (21-20) by a game and a half for the eighth and final playoff spot .

Atlanta (27-14), which has won five of its last six games, moved a half-game ahead of Las Vegas (26-14) and Phoenix (26-14) with three regular-season games remaining.

The Dream play the Sparks again Friday, followed by a two-game series with Connecticut to end the season. The Sparks have four games remaining, two at home.

Dearica Hamby had 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Sparks. Kelsey Plum had 18 points a

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