COLLEGE PARK, GA – The Atlanta Dream found themselves in a pivotal win-or-go-home situation against the Indiana Fever, and for most of the game, they had control. They had the lead for the entire fourth quarter until the final seconds, when a defensive breakdown allowed Aliyah Boston to get an open layup to put the Fever up one point.
The Dream had a chance to take back the lead, but a turnover on the inbound cost them one of their chances, and helped the Fever extend their lead to two points. With one more chance to either tie or win the game, Brionna Jones missed the three-point heave, and the Dream's playoff run came to an end with an 87-85 loss.
With all that the Dream had accomplished this season, it was a rough way to end the year after there were goals of them winning a championship. Despite the loss, the goals have not changed for head coach Karl Smesko, they'll just have to be accomplished at a later date.
“We're here to bring a championship to the Dream,” Smesko said after the game. “It’s going to be delayed. It's not going to be denied. But right now, it hurts a little bit because I had so much belief in this team.”
Allisha Gray and Jordin Canada still have the belief in the team, and they know this season wasn't a waste.
“A lot of people didn’t expect us to be in this position,” Gray said. “I think the resiliency of this team, the competitive nature of this team, has shown day in and day out throughout the season. We continue to battle, we continue to fight. We have the intensity. I love being around this team as well.”
“I think we were all bought into coach’s vision and the coaching staff and the organization as a whole, and what we want to accomplish here,” Canada said. “Like coach said, what's delayed, not denied? Atlanta will be back. I guarantee that.”
As of now, the only thing the Dream can do is learn from this season and come back better next year.
Dream fall short in final seconds against the Fever
The Dream had a five-point lead with less than three minutes remaining, and it felt like they had all the momentum. From there, the Fever buckled down on defense, and the Dream didn't score for the remainder of the game.
“Unfortunately, we had some empty possessions where we were kind of just staring at the ball rather than executing our offense, and obviously, these are important possessions,” Smesko said.
“I think we just got stagnant,” Canada said. “We weren’t moving the ball. We were taking a lot of bad shots, and we were also rushing as well, sort of like taking our time and executing offensively. Then we had some timely turnovers that they capitalized on.”
Though Smesko would want to have some of those plays back in the fourth quarter, he knows it's too late for any corrections.
“Unfortunately, there are no more opportunities to learn for this year, and our goal this year was to win the championship,” Smesko said. “Right now, it's kind of deflating because we definitely were expecting that we would have the ability to advance.”
The Dream will now go into the offseason with some decisions to make and a lot to be happy about with the season they had.
