Brittney Griner, Atlanta Dream hand Minnesota Lynx first home loss of regular season

Brittney Griner had a wide-open layup and so, for Courtney Williams, there was no choice: she had to foul.

Williams made it count, slapping Griner from behind midway through the first quarter. The whistle blew. Griner turned. Then the 6-foot-9 center casually reached out and offered a tousle — lightly ruffling Williams’ faded-pink buzzcut.

It was friendly, yet at the same time, a bit infantilizing. At that point in Sunday night’s eventual 90-86 Dream victory at Target Center, Griner was cruising to a 17-point first half on 6-for-8 shooting.

That included a three-pointer from the top of the key, followed by a Michael Jordan-style shrug. Then, to end the half, Griner kicked the ball out to teammate Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who sank a three-pointer to put the Dream up by a game-high 14 points at the break.

It was a lead that — despite a late-game effort — proved insurmountable as the Lynx suffered their first home loss of the regular season. (Their Commissioner’s Cup final loss to Indiana does not count in the WNBA standings.)

Napheesa Collier led Minnesota with 32 points — two shy of her season high — and eight rebounds. Williams scored 11 points and dished out a game-high nine assists. Alanna Smith added 12 points and also, despite being quite undersized, assisted in defending Griner.

Starters Kayla McBride and Bridget Carleton combined for just four points on 2-for-12 shooting, as the WNBA-best Lynx saw a four-game winning streak end heading into their Wednesday matchup with the rival New York Liberty.

The Lynx opened the second half with a 19-9 run, fueled by stifling defense. Minnesota forced five turnovers and limited Griner to three field-goal attempts and one make in the third.

Diamond Miller added six points off the bench in that quarter alone, and Jessica Shepard helped hold down the frontcourt defensively — even hitting a nifty reverse layup to end the quarter. Collier and Williams scored or assisted on every other basket in the frame, cutting the deficit to two possessions at 60-54 entering the fourth quarter.

“The way we came out in the first half is obviously not what we want our identity to be,” Collier said. “They’re a really good team, so when you come out like that against teams, it’s going to be really hard. So we knew we had to change things in the second half.”

But in the fourth quarter, the Lynx lost their ball pressure again, said Reeve.

After Dream guard Te-Hina Paopao opened the quarter with a three-pointer, Allisha Gray and Walker-Kimbrough went on their own run — rattling off five consecutive buckets.

Two minutes later, little had changed, except Smith had to leave the floor. Smith went down, tweaking her ankle, and was helped off the court and to the locker room. She later appeared on the bench, but didn’t re-enter the game.

The Lynx still made a late push, as Collier’s 11-foot jumper with 11 seconds remaining cut the deficit to three points. Hiedeman was a crucial contributor off the bench, with 10 points in the fourth quarter.

But the clock, and the Dream, eventually won out.

BOXSCORE: Atlanta 90, Lynx 86

WNBA standings

The Lynx could take solace in their last-gasp effort, sure. But Reeve doesn’t see it that way.