The Atlanta Dream's playoff hopes are right in front of them, and it all starts with their next three games. The Dream face the Washington Mystics twice and then the Chicago Sky. The thing is that both of those teams are fighting for the last playoff spot, just like the Dream. Every one of these games matters, and head coach Tanisha Wright is preaching to her team that they have the ability to control everything that's in front of them.

“We're in a position where we can really control our destiny,” Wright said before their game against the Mystics. “We probably need a little bit of help, but we can really control it by taking care of our business focusing on what we have right in front of us tonight. We have Washington right in front of us. And so we have to come in, like I said earlier, and really value every possession.”

The Dream have played some tough games in the past few weeks, which included back-to-back overtime games. The starters are playing extended minutes, but Wright mentions that you have to have a will to win, especially fighting for a playoff spot.

“We’re playing basketball for a living. We have to have a will to want to win, a will to want to continue our season, to get into the postseason. It’s a hard thing to do. It's not easy to do in this league,” Wright said. “This league is very, very hard, night in, night out, no matter who you're playing, you know you're playing somebody tough. I hope, and I don't think so with this team, that I have to cheerlead them on to how they need to show up in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. I think it's an inner thing, an inner motivation that has to come out, that you have to have a stronger will to win and get things done.”

The Dream control their own destiny to make the playoffs

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If the Atlanta Dream can win their next three games, there's a good chance that they can lock up the final playoff spot. They'll need some help from the Chicago Sky, who are one and a half games ahead of them, but their schedule features a few playoff teams as well. The Sky are also playing without Angel Reese, who has been one of their best players in her rookie season.

Nonetheless, the Dream can't focus on what happens on the outside, and they can only control what they can control, which is what head coach Tanisha Wright has been preaching the past few games.

“We need to control the controllables. We can’t focus on anything else, we just need to focus on ourselves and control the things that we’re capable of controlling, and we’re capable of controlling the next game,” Wright said after their loss against the Minnesota Lynx.

Coming into their first matchup against the Mystics in three days, the Dream are on a two-game losing streak, but they've been playing well in those games. The one thing that Dream need to do better at is finishing games, which hurt them against the Indiana Fever on Sept. 8. It will be a tough road down these final games for them, but they have the talent on the team to handle business.