Offensive woes have plagued the Dream all season and that was again the case for Atlanta during Thursday’s game against the Liberty too.
Neither team shot particularly well but the Dream shot just 34.4% – compared to New York’s 39.2% – and the Liberty cruised to a 78-61 victory at Gateway Center Arena.
Atlanta (4-4) has lost three of its last four and it’s the first time this season the Dream have dropped two games in a row.
“It’s one of those things where it’s like, we’re speechless,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “I thought our effort was really poor. We weren’t a professional team today. We didn’t come to do our jobs today. That was from the very start. That first group started that. Then it trickled down. When you do that, you have losses like this.”
The Dream have been outscored 147-111 in their past two games. Atlanta’s 77.1 points per game is third lowest in the league, in front of Los Angeles (75.6) and Washington (72.2).
“I think we were getting some good looks,” Wright said. “[In the] first quarter we got some good looks. We got to the rim. We had two feet in the paint. Our post players got touches. Our guards got at the rim. We didn’t make shots and they pouted. As a result, it carried over. We just pouted and we were never able to turn the tide.”
Atlanta especially struggled from long range, making 3 of 21 3-point attempts compared to New York’s 9 of 31.
“In the second quarter we started taking nothing but outside jump shots,” Wright said. “[In the first quarter] we were getting in the paint. Post players were getting post touches and guards were getting two feet in the paint on their attacks. I think in the second quarter we just didn’t trust that.”
The Dream forced 14 turnovers but scored just four points off them.
“Our transition, we just weren’t great,” Wright said. “It was a lot of lethargicness in terms of running. Even in the first quarter, sprinting back on defense. They missed a lot of shots. To be honest, they probably should have beaten us way worse than they were beating us in the first quarter.”
The Dream didn’t score for the first four-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter which helped New York (9-2) to a 55-48 lead after three quarters. The Liberty started the fourth quarter with a 15-5 run that put the game away.
“We [have to] get on that first group about their energy and how they’re starting the quarters,” Wright said. “They’re just not starting it well right now. You need to be able to win games. This league is very hard. Every game is [going to] be a tough game. There’s a mental fortitude that we have to have when we start the game, throughout the game and especially when we’re starting halves.”
New York’s Breanna Stewart didn’t make things any easier for the Atlanta defense as she had a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
“[Stewart] is one of the best players in this league,” Wright said. “You obviously try to make it tough on [her]. I thought we did a decent job of making her make tough shots. She had some attacks that were [Stewart]-like attacks. But there weren’t a lot of plays where we weren’t there.
“Then we have to stop the others. We can’t let someone like [Leonie] Fiebich come in and have five offensive rebounds. Jonquel [Jones] was only 4-for-9, which means she only took nine shots.”
New York was dominant on the boards with 11 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Dream 44-34.
Aerial Powers was a bright spot for the Dream off the bench with 13 points, second-most behind Allisha Gray’s 16 points.
“I think we need to find our identity and who we want to be as a team,” Powers said. “The coaching staff is putting us in the right positions and we just have to have the fortitude to go out there and hustle and play hard. I think we will.”
The Dream hits the road and will play the Sky on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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