Michael VoepelSep 1, 2025, 05:15 PM ET

CloseMichael Voepel is a senior writer who covers the WNBA, women’s college basketball and other college sports. Voepel began covering women’s basketball in 1984, and has been with ESPN since 1996.

Point guard Jordin Canada returned to the Atlanta Dream on Monday as they defeated the Connecticut Sun, 93-76, and moved into a second-place tie with Las Vegas in the WNBA standings.

Canada missed eight games with a hamstring injury, last playing Aug. 10. Monday, coming off the bench for the first time this season, she scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in 20 minutes playing time.

“I really didn’t intend on playing her quite as much as we did, but she said she felt good. And she was playing even better,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “So we kind of just rolled with her. She was fantastic, big basket after big basket. We all know what she’s capable of doing on the defensive end, and she was outstanding today. It’s really nice to have her back, because before she got hurt, she was playing at an All-Star level.”

Jordin Canada, who missed the past eight games with a hamstring injury, returned Monday, scoring 15 points in 20 minutes. Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Canada, who turned 30 in August, won WNBA titles in 2018 and 2020 with the Seattle Storm, where she played for four years. She then spent two years with the Los Angeles Sparks and is in her second season with the Dream. She’s been on the WNBA’s all-defensive first team twice, in 2019 and 2023. Canada is averaging 12.1 points and a team-high 5.5 assists this season.

“Once I got comfortable, I carried on as normal,” she said. “I was just trying to give myself grace with coming back and knowing it’s going to take a little time, but I feel good out there now.”

Canada’s return now is especially important as the Dream attempt to get the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx. The Dream are 26-14 along with the Aces; each team has four games left in the regular season. The Aces hold a tiebreaker over the Dream as Las Vegas won the season series 3-0.

The Dream had just a one-point lead after three quarters over the Sun, who have been playing well of late despite already being eliminated from the postseason. Canada was a big factor in helping Atlanta pull away by outscoring Connecticut 26-10 in the fourth quarter.

“Trying to make sure in these types of games in the regular season, we’re doing what we need to,” she said. “That way when we get into the playoffs, it doesn’t hit us by surprise and we’re ready for the moment.”