ATLANTA – The Atlanta Dream had a lot to overcome in their 96-92 overtime loss against the Minnesota Lynx. At first, they had to overcome a rough first quarter, where they turned the ball over seven times, which led them to be down double digits at one point in the half. Midway through the second quarter, the lights in the arena flickered on and off, which caused the game to come to a quick pause.

That may have worked out in the Dream's favor because they picked up the intensity and cut their deficit down to single digits. By the beginning of the third quarter, they were able to take the lead, and it became and back and forth contest to the end of regulation.

The game went into overtime, but the Dream were not able to overcome their slow start – or the lights – in order to get the win. Though they came up short, Jordin Canada believes that the team is close to breaking through.

“We’re right there, and I feel like we can still grow as a team and still get better, and find areas that we can still grow in,” Canada said after the game. “But I think we’re right there, it’s just us finishing games out. You’ve seen that in the last two games against New York and Minnesota. They’re the top two teams for a reason. I just think we’re right there; we’re just missing out on the little details we need to clean up.

“I feel like overall as a team, we’ve grown and we’re continuing to grow.”

It was late-game execution that hurt the Dream at the end of the fourth and in overtime. Missed free throws, not converting with time running out, and bad fouls all caught up to them in the end.

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“I gotta not foul at the end of the fourth quarter when we needed to get a stop, and just being sound on the defensive end, and honestly playing hard on the shot, Canada said. “Coach talks about that a lot, just making sure we’re rebounding at key moments, not letting them get second-chance points.”

Dream fall short against the Lynx in overtime

The Dream once had the lead in the second half, and with 3:50 remaining in the fourth, they had their biggest lead of the game, which was seven points. From there, the Lynx locked in and walked the Dream down, taking the game into overtime.

“It’s kind of a human nature element that when you get the lead, you’re trying to protect it,” head coach Karl Smesko said. “We were playing hard and at a great pace; we were really hard to guard. They’re a great defensive team, and we were getting good shots. As soon as you slow down and you’re thinking you’re going to protect something, I think you’re giving an advantage to the defense.”

The Lynx are the best team in the league, and they showed that down the stretch of the game. For the Dream, there's still a lot they need to learn and more things they need to practice.

“We don’t have everything in that we want,” Smesko said. “There’s not a lot of practice time in this league, but I do think we’ve gotten a lot better over the course of the season, and we still have a lot of room to grow. It’s disappointing today because we didn’t finish it off, but it’s really exciting to know what’s possible with this team.”

It doesn't get any easier for the Dream, because they face the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty in two days. They showed against the Lynx that they can hang with the best of them, and if they can fix the little things, they'll be a team that can be in the same conversation as the Minnesota and New York.