SEATTLE — Atlanta knew exactly what challenge awaited Sunday night.
Before tipoff, Dream head coach Karl Smesko pointed to Seattle’s emerging frontcourt as one of the biggest concerns, praising rookie Dominique Malonga’s ability to run the floor, stretch defenses and dominate in transition while also highlighting fellow rookie Flau’jae Johnson’s impressive first professional season.
“They’re playing really well,” Smesko said before the game. “Malonga runs so well in transition… she’s putting the ball on the floor, getting to the rim, she’s hitting threes. She’s having a remarkable season.”
His concerns proved prophetic.
Seattle delivered one of its most efficient offensive performances of the season, shooting 60 percent from the field and an eye-popping 14-of-23 (60.9%) from beyond the arc to defeat Atlanta 105-90 at Climate Pledge Arena.
The loss marked Atlanta’s third consecutive defeat during a difficult West Coast swing, but afterward neither Smesko nor his players sounded interested in panic.
Instead, they pointed to execution, rebounding and perspective.
“We’re a really good team,” Smesko said. “We’ve had a tough week… but I still have a lot of faith in this team.”
Seattle’s young core led the way.
Flau’jae Johnson continued her standout rookie campaign with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals while shooting 9-for-12 from the floor.
Awa Fam was nearly flawless, scoring 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting while knocking down five of her six attempts from three-point range.
Natisha Hiedeman added 20 points and six assists, and Dominique Malonga recorded another double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals.
Every time Atlanta threatened, Seattle answered.
After Rhyne Howard trimmed the deficit to seven midway through the fourth quarter, Malonga buried a momentum-stopping three that quickly restored a double-digit cushion.
“I thought Seattle was outstanding,” Smesko said afterward. “Every time we’d make a run, they would make one of those shots. Everybody on their team just played exceptionally well on the same night.”
Atlanta never completely folded.
Howard continued her All-Star caliber season with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting while hitting four three-pointers.
Angel Reese added 17 points and nine rebounds despite constant attention inside, Allisha Gray scored 15 points, and Jordin Canada finished with 10 assists directing the offense.
The Dream actually generated many of the shots they wanted offensively.
“I thought the quality of shots was really good,” Smesko said. “The problem was we couldn’t get any stops.”
Atlanta scored 27 points in the third quarter and briefly cut into Seattle’s lead several times, but the Storm answered nearly every run with another difficult basket.
The numbers told the story.
Seattle shot 60 percent overall compared to Atlanta’s 43 percent, outrebounded the Dream 34-26 and connected on twice as many three-pointers.
For Allisha Gray, the biggest issue wasn’t simply Seattle’s hot shooting, it was what happened after the rare misses.
“When a team is shooting that well, you have to take advantage of the misses,” Gray said. “They were able to get offensive rebounds for second-chance points, and the way they were shooting, it hurt us a lot tonight.”
The Dream entered the game already shorthanded after Naz Hillmon was held out for rest following six games in 10 days.
Before tipoff, Smesko described Hillmon as “a winning basketball player” whose versatility impacts both ends of the floor.
Following the loss, the absence was still noticeable.
“She’s the glue of this team,” Howard said. “She’s vocal. She’s always in the right place at the right time. We have to have the next-player-up mentality, but she was definitely missed tonight.”
Despite the three-game skid, Atlanta’s locker room remained confident.
“It’s still early in the season,” Howard said. “These are the type of things you want to experience earlier so you can learn from them before playoff time.”
Gray echoed that sentiment.
“We’ve just got to keep working,” she said. “You’re not going to win every game. The biggest thing is staying together, looking at the film and responding.”
Smesko agreed there is little reason for wholesale changes despite the recent results.
”I think the over reaction is that we’ve loss three games in a row and the road now there’s a lot of things that need to change… we’ve played really good basketball this year… I think this was obviously a very tough road trip, and it’s not over yet hopefully we can finish on a positive note…”
