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 and seven assists, and Rickea Jackson scored 15.

Naz Hillmon added 15 points and Maya Caldwell scored 14 for Atlanta. Jordin Canada recorded her first double-double this season with 10 points and 10 assists.

The Sparks scored the opening 10 points of the game as Atlanta missed its first seven field goals. But the Dream closed the quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 26-24 lead after one. Atlanta started the second quarter on a 15-3 run to build a 41-27 lead.

Atlanta led 53-41 at the break behind Howard’s 12 points and three three-pointers. The Dream led by at least eight points the entire second half.