The Connecticut Sun beat the Atlanta Dream 86-78, handing them back-to-back losses.
Before today’s game, Atlanta Dream head coach Tanisha Wright stressed a continued sense of accountability and consistency. She expressly mentioned caring for the basketball and playing hard and focused every time the team steps on the floor. The team is responding, but today’s ask against one of the WNBA’s best was insurmountable.
As the game starts, nothing is going right for the Dream. Multiple turnovers and missed buckets have the Sun out to a 9-0 lead with 7:55 remaining in the quarter. All-Star Cheyenne Parker finally gets the team on the board with free throws. They get back in rhythm by also getting some foul calls and a spark from guard Aari McDonald. However, the Sun do not respond to anything the Dream throw their way. The length of forward DeWanna Bonner and guard Rebecca Allen gives the team all they can handle. The arena is quiet as they watch the Dream shoot a miserable seven percent and miss a bewildering 12 shots. The Sun go up 30-16.
It’s more of the same in the second quarter as the Dream miss more shots. Thursday’s game hero Natisha Hiedeman picks up right where she left off, knocking down threes that would have been good from Mohegan Sun Arena. The Dream finally get some offensive production with Parker through drives to the basket, but Bonner is the stuff of nightmares. She is smiling as she knocks down shot after shot. With just under four minutes to play in the half, the lead is 20. The team responds when Coach Wright talks to guard Allisha Gray during some crucial free throws. With effort by Parker, McDonald, and Gray, they trim the lead to seven. The Sun lead just 45-37 at halftime.
Here come the Dream in the third quarter. They force several missed shots by the Sun and respond with some solid baskets by Gray and some mighty buckets by Parker, forcing a timeout at 7:29 when the leads drop to one. However, over the next few minutes, several bad sequences by the team, including bad transition defense and picking up fouls (Gray is up to five), allow the Sun right back in. The Sun respond with more Hiedeman shots from beyond the arc and several terrorizing buckets from Bonner. They boost the lead to 67-54 at the end of three.
The Sun continue ticking away and not letting the Dream into their party. Bonner has 18 points, Hiedeman has 15 points, and Alyssa Thomas has 13 points just past the midway point of the fourth quarter. With 5:26 remaining, the Dream try furiously to find some defense and quick buckets, led by Rhyne Howard, who is up to 17 points as she breaks Renee Montgomery’s three-point franchise record. Eventually, Howard leads all scorers with 22 points, but the Sun are just too much for the Dream as time ticks down. They take this one, 86-78, handing the Dream back-to-back losses.
“Connecticut is a tough team. Right now, they have our number…we did a good job fighting back and getting it within one, (but) we didn’t finish it the way we need to finish it.”, says Wright post-game. “It is what it is. We have to chalk it up and move on because our next stretch is really tough.”
While Wright has high expectations for her team, she acknowledges that this is the first time the team has been healthy in quite some time. The team also needs more practice time to figure out how this version of the franchise flows with contributions from each player. As Gray said on June 23, the team is “adapting,” which seems fitting for the last two games.
The Atlanta Dream play at home again on Tuesday, July 25, where they take on Brittney Griner and the visiting Phoenix Mercury.
Hall About Sports 