The Atlanta Dream have won three consecutive games despite being short-handed.
Guard Jordin Canada has yet to play and center Brittney Griner has missed the last two games as both battle knee issues. The players’ statuses for the game at the Seattle Storm on Friday remain uncertain, but the team has been resilient thus far.
“I like the progress our team is making,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said.
The Dream (4-2) have had a chance to catch their breath after an 88-82 victory at Los Angeles on Tuesday, which concluded a stretch of four games in six days.
In Griner’s absence, Smesko moved Brionna Jones from forward to center and inserted Nia Coffey into the starting lineup. Rhyne Howard moved to Canada’s spot at point guard and Maya Caldwell joined the starting unit.
Howard scored 15 points on just 5-of-14 shooting against the Sparks, but she added a season-high nine rebounds while dishing out seven assists.
“She’s really been sharing the ball, keeping everybody involved,” Smesko said of Howard. “She’s always been a good defender but she’s really elevated to an elite wing defender. … When (Canada) gets back, (Howard) will be more of a natural, being able to mix up being a primary ball handler and playing off the ball more.”
Even with two top reserves pressed into the starting lineup, the Atlanta bench managed a season-high 25 points.
The Storm (3-2) also got significant production from their reserves in their last game, but they still came up short in an 82-77 loss at Minnesota on Tuesday night.
The Lynx raced to a 14-2 lead and led 26-11 at the end of the first quarter. Seattle’s bench outscored Minnesota reserves 16-10 to help the Storm get as close as one point on multiple occasions before seeing their three-game winning streak end.
“We had great contributions from our bench,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said. “The fight back started with them just kind of chipping away possession by possession.”
Center Ezi Magbegor said the team had the proper reaction to the poor start, a mindset that can be useful if another bad start should occur.
“When we get down early, we have to find ways to get back into the game,” Magbegor said. “It’s a four-quarter game so we know it’s not going to come in the first or second quarter.”
–Field Level Media
