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ATLANTA – The Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky were tied up at 69 going into the fourth quarter, and it looked like a game that had the potential of going down to the wire. For the first three quarters, the Dream were looking to find any spark that could help them extend or take the lead. Finally, midway through the fourth, they found their spark, and it was none other than rookie Te-Hina Paopao, who helped the Deam get the 93-80 win.
Paopao hit two big 3-pointers down the stretch; one that helped them take the lead, and the second one to extend it. She finished the game with 16 points, knocking down five of her six 3-point shots. It was the third time this season she's finished with 16 points.
“I can’t get past 16. I think I’m just going to reach 16 from now on,” Paopao jokingly said after the day. “It feels great. I just gotta keep shooting the ball and making shots, and earn the trust of my teammates that I’ll knock it down for them. I just gotta take one practice and one game at a time.”
Throughout the season, Paopao has shown growth, and her teammates and coaches see the difference that she's making on the floor. It also helps that she's knocking down 3-pointers at a high rate.
“She’s aggressively seeking her shot,” head coach Karl Smesko said. “She’s trying to get open. Any opportunity somebody turns their back for a second, there’s a long rebound and they’re no longer attached to you, she's going to find an opening where she can get the ball, call for it, and she’s ready to knock it down. She has a very quick release, so if you give her just a couple of feet, she can get that thing off.
“Pao just brings a level of focus, intensity, and excitement to the game,” Naz Hillmon said. “She comes in off the bench and is always ready. She gets the ball up the floor, and her 3-point shooting is a spark for us. She’s done great with that all year long, and she continues to get better every single night.”
Dream take control in fourth quarter to defeat Sky
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Fourth quarters for the Dream have been shaky the past few games, but they've been able to come out with wins in the past few days. In their latest win against the Washington Mystics, they let their lead slip away in the final minutes, and they were one free throw away from having to go into overtime. This time around, the Dream came into the fourth quarter and were the aggressors for once.
“They had a couple of players who were really hot, and I think we were able to slow them down in the fourth quarter,” Hillmon said. “We also didn’t give up as many free throws as we did in the third quarter, which kept them in the game. We just pushed the pace. We found open shooters, and they knocked them down. Sometimes in the fourth quarter, we’re not pushing the pace, and we weren’t able to find that open man, especially in transition.”
Hillmon and Paopao were consistent the entire game, and they've shown that the second unit has been a key reason for their success this season. When they're playing good, it gives the starters the rest they may need.
“Our starting five is just so great,” Hillmon said. “We want to be able to give them a boost, or if they’re lacking in anything, we want to make sure that we’re watching it from the bench, and then be able to clean those things up. We want to be able to give our starting five a rest.
“It’s a long season, and if they have to play 40 minutes every night, that’s just hard on their bodies. When we can come in and give them a spark, not just to give them a rest, but grow the lead or get a couple of stops, it’s just going to make our team better, and it speaks to our depth as well.”
It does help that the Dream can trust their second unit to come in and help win them a game, and that's what happened today.
