Despite the loss to the 2024 WNBA champion New York Liberty, there are reasons for optimism as Atlanta enters a three-game stretch against teams in the bottom five of the WNBA standings.
The Atlanta Dream needed to upset the New York Liberty on the road Tuesday night in order to qualify for the Commissioner’s Cup championship game. Although they led by 17 points and possessed an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Dream eventually fell short in an 86-81 loss. Despite the loss to the 2024 WNBA champions, there are reasons for optimism as Atlanta enters a three-game stretch against teams in the bottom five of the WNBA standings.
Sticking with the 2024 champs through three quarters
Through three quarters, the Dream looked like the team to beat in New York. Atlanta shot 12-for-28 from three-point range (43%) overall and was a perfect 11-of-11 in free throw shooting. Scoring was distributed down the roster as seven different Dream players successfully made three-point attempts and six different players scored at least nine points. The team’s high scorer was rookie Te-Hina Paopao who had sixteen points in the first half, tying her career high.
Notably, Paopao took just a single shot attempt in the second half despite her hot start. Starter Jordin Canada took the majority of minutes at the point guard position after halftime. Paopao played less than three minutes in the third quarter, missing a driving layup. When Paopao entered the game midway through the fourth quarter, she received two fouls in less than two minutes (her third and fourth of the game) and was promptly replaced by Canada once again. Paopao would only return for the final thirteen seconds of the game when Atlanta was down by three points and unable to convert a long-range shot to send the game to overtime.
By the time the buzzer sounded, the Liberty had doubled Atlanta’s scoring output in the fourth quarter as the Dream only managed to score 13 total points in the final frame. Sabrina Ionescu ended the game with a season-high of 34 points while Breanna Stewart finished with 23 points. Due to New York’s loss to Indiana last weekend, the Fever will represent the Eastern Conference in the Commissioner’s Cup against the Western Conference’s Minnesota Lynx on July 1st.
Record-setting weekend for Dream players
The loss to the Liberty put a stop to Atlanta’s three-game winning streak in the midst of an impressive 7-1 eight-game stretch. Allisha Gray has earned multiple “Player of the Week” awards during that time, including a career-high 32 points in an 89-56 victory over the Washington Mystics. Against the Chicago Sky, Rhyne Howard tied the WNBA record for made three-pointers in a single game with nine. In her post-game press availability, Howard joked about breaking the Atlanta franchise record set by current team vice-president and co-owner Renee Montgomery.
Prior to the game against the Chicago Sky, the Atlanta Dream also hosted a ceremony with USA Basketball to recognize Brittney Griner. Griner was honored for her time with the 2024 Olympics squad that won a gold medal in Paris last summer. Griner received a gold ring from team officials and was able to celebrate alongside her wife and son. She then went on to make WNBA history during the game when she passed Lisa Leslie for second place on the all-time blocks leaderboard with 823.
In Coach Smesko’s own words
In his last several press conferences, Smesko has consistently mentioned how proud he is of the team’s development and progress so far this season. Smesko spent time after the Chicago Sky game praising the team’s chemistry, stating “everyone gets along really well […] our team really enjoys being around each other.” Smesko did acknowledge the difficulty in implementing a new system despite the camaraderie, describing the push and pull of prioritizing offense and defense:
“At the beginning of the year, we had really good ball movement and spacing. And then all of a sudden, we started to emphasize defense a little more because we weren’t that good at defense, and the defense got better, but then our spacing got worse.”
After the Liberty game, Smesko repeatedly mentioned the momentum shift that may have resulted from the New York home crowd and Atlanta slowing their pace down with a double-digit lead. Ironically, the team’s collapse came just a week after a reporter asked Smesko in the postgame press conference after the team’s win over the Washington Mystics about his philosophy for managing late game leads. Smesko answered “I don’t know that I have any type of philosophy” while describing how “big leads slip away as soon as you relax for a minute.” This comment may have unintentionally foreshadowed Tuesday’s game slipping away from Atlanta and the chance to play in the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup disappearing with it.
Looking ahead as favorites in the next three games
Atlanta will face the Washington Mystics for the third time in their next game, at home, on Friday, June 20. They then host the Chicago Sky once again on Sunday, June 22, before traveling to Dallas to face Paige Bueckers and the Wings on Tuesday, June 24. These three opponents are all currently under .500 and Atlanta will look to regain its momentum in these matchups before a difficult three-game stretch against the Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, and Seattle Storm.