SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time this season, the Atlanta Dream have dropped back-to-back games.
Friday night’s 78-75 loss to the Golden State Valkyries wasn’t for a lack of defensive effort. Atlanta forced 18 turnovers, collected 14 steals, held one of the league’s better three-point shooting teams to just 5-of-22 from beyond the arc, and still walked away empty-handed after struggling to convert those defensive stops into offense.
Now the Dream have little time to dwell on the defeat.
Atlanta immediately heads to Seattle for the second night of a back-to-back, where the Dream will face a Storm team coming off an impressive victory over the defending champion New York Liberty. Earlier this season, Seattle handled Atlanta convincingly, making Saturday’s matchup an early measuring stick as the Dream look to avoid a three-game skid.
The game will also feature the first professional meeting between former LSU teammates Angel Reese and rookie Flau’Jae Johnson, who helped lead the Tigers to the 2023 NCAA National Championship.
Canada Carries the Offense
Jordin Canada delivered arguably her best offensive performance of the season, finishing with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting while knocking down all three of her three-point attempts and converting all six free throws.
She also made an impact defensively, recording two steals and a memorable chase-down block against a much taller Golden State player during a pivotal stretch of the fourth quarter.
But as brilliant as Canada was for most of the night, one play ultimately overshadowed her performance.
With just over a minute remaining and Atlanta trailing by two, Canada committed a costly turnover that allowed Golden State to push its lead to two possessions following a Gabby Williams basket.
After the game, Canada didn’t shy away from taking responsibility.
“It doesn’t even really matter. We lost,” Canada said. “I had a good game, but at the end of the day we needed to execute down the stretch… I’m kind of pissed at myself for turning the ball over at a crucial time in the game.”
She later added:
“It wasn’t really anything they were doing different in the last couple of minutes. I think it was just us not executing offensively and having timely turnovers.”
Reese Posts Another Double-Double
Angel Reese continued her strong season with another double-double, finishing with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six steals while helping anchor Atlanta’s aggressive defensive effort.
Reese believed the Dream largely executed the defensive game plan, especially against Golden State’s perimeter attack.
“I think tonight we did a good job on them from the three-point line. They shot 5-for-22,” Reese said. “I think we did a good job turning them over. I think just for us… executing was the biggest thing.”
She also acknowledged that Atlanta let an opportunity slip away.
“I think we had this game controlled for a lot of the game tonight.”
Defense Was There, Offense Wasn’t
Head coach Karl Smesko pointed to Atlanta’s defensive intensity as one of the team’s biggest positives despite the loss.
“I loved our defensive intensity, especially that first half,” Smesko said. “We made so many defensive plays. We just couldn’t convert them into points. Normally we’re really good at turning turnovers into points.”
Atlanta finished with 14 steals and forced 18 Golden State turnovers but managed just 75 points while shooting 34 percent from the field.
The Dream also struggled to consistently generate quality offense.
“We just got to have more ball movement,” Smesko said. “If the first screen doesn’t work, we’ve got to get into the second screen and get the ball moving side to side.”
Defensively, Atlanta executed one of its primary objectives.
“We definitely didn’t want to give up any catch-and-shoot threes,” Smesko said. “That was the game plan. We were going to make them hit tough twos over us.”
Golden State made only five three-pointers, but Kiah Stokes punished the Dream inside with 13 points and seven blocks, while Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 16 points.
Frustration With the Officiating
Following the game, Smesko also voiced frustration with the officiating, saying he believes Atlanta has not received the respect it deserves.
“We don’t get the kind of respect from officials that we deserve,” Smesko said. “Angel deserves more respect out there.”
The Dream coach added that the organization plans to submit several missed calls to the league for review.
No Time to Feel Sorry
There won’t be much time to dissect Friday’s loss.
The Dream now head directly to Seattle for their sixth game in a 10-day stretch.
“We’ve got no time to feel bad about it,” Smesko said. “We’re flying tonight and we’ll be in Seattle playing tomorrow.”
Reese echoed that message.
“Luckily we have less than 20 hours to have another opportunity to play the game we love,” she said. “We can’t dwell on this too much.”
Canada shared the same mindset despite the disappointment.
“… We can’t sulk. Obviously, I said a couple minutes ago that I was pissed, but honestly, another day, another opportunity to get better. Um, and we have a chance to bounce back. So I know tomorrow I’ll have a completely different mindset and we’ll be able to move forward. Um, like Angel says, Seattle’s been playing well as of late, so we got to come in with the right mindset, right attitude, um, to get a win tomorrow.”
After suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season, the Dream’s response will tell a very interesting story about how this team faces difficult outcomes and circumstances.
Cover photo by KK Hansbrough
