Takeaways: Dream’s defense improves, but Wings prove to be a tough match-up

ATLANTA — The best chance the Atlanta Dream had to retake the lead from the Dallas Wings on Saturday night at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavillion came early in the fourth quarter. The sequence summed up how much of the night went for the home team.

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After an Angel McCoughtry three-pointer, the Dream were within striking distance, trailing the Wings by a single possession at 60-57. And then the Dream strung this together: missed layup, blocked shot, missed layup, blocked shot, missed field goal, missed tip-in, missed 22-footer, missed 10-footer.

The Dream missed eight times over a three-minute span, where a made basket would have been essential to take the lead. From there, Dallas outscored Atlanta 18-13, coasting to a 78-70 victory.

Counting on the Dream to miss shots Saturday night became more reliable than rain in Seattle. Atlanta got 85 shots off, but only 24 sank through the net, good enough for a 28 percent connection rate.

“I think there were times that we played fast and had rough shots. If there’s something that we got to get better at it’s the idea of playing fast, but not rushing the shot,” said Atlanta coach Nicki Collen. “We can run the ball down the floor and still get into actions… We just didn’t convert.”

McCoughtry led the Dream with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Skylar Diggins-Smith led Dallas with 24 points, five assists, five rebounds and three blocks.

Here’s a few takeaways from the game:

Atlanta’s defense is improving

It seems odd that the Dream lost when glancing at one number on the stat sheet. Atlanta forced Dallas into 24 turnovers Saturday night. That was a season-best for the Dream through three games. So far, opponents are turning the ball over an average of 17 times per-game against the Dream.

Collen said before the season that she wanted the Dream to lead the league in pace and defense. When it comes to the latter, they’ve made progress since allowing Dallas to score 101 points in the season-opener.

“This was a much better defensive effort than the first time we played (Dallas),” said Atlanta center Elizabeth Williams. “The problem was our offense. It’s hard when you can’t put the ball in the basket… I think overall the effort was there today.”

Atlanta had 13 steals in the game — McCoughtry and Williams each had three apiece — and the team also had nine blocked shots, led by Jessica Breland’s four swats and Brittney Sykes’ three.

Rookie forward Monique Billings came up with a key steal in the second quarter to help the Dream get back in the game — jumping in a passing lane, then kicking the ball to Tiffany Hayes who found Renee Montgomery for a three-pointer, which cut the Wings’ lead to single digits. It’s those plays, meshing defense with quick and smart shot selection, that the Dream hope to see more of.

Team chemistry still under construction

Atlanta’s affinity for missing shots has been mentioned, but the team also got out-rebounded 47-35 on Saturday, had 12 turnovers and were awful from behind the arc, making just 27 percent of its three-pointers.

This could be chalked up to the team still getting comfortable with each other and building chemistry.

“We’re still trying to find that fine line,” Collen said. “When you have a Tiffany Hayes and an Angel McCoughtry, getting a lot of minutes for Brittney Sykes can be hard at times, and I think I have to get her a few more minutes.”

Remember, this Atlanta team has a new head coach, new assistant coaches, four new faces via free agency, a 2018 draft pick and it’s McCoughtry’s first time back with the team after taking the 2017 WNBA season off.

They’re getting better each game, but it’s going to take a little bit more time for this team to totally mesh.

“We’re really still learning Nicki a lot and it’s a brand-new offense. I’ve played on this team for two years, but the playbook is totally different, so in a lot of ways I’m a rookie with Nicki because I didn’t know any of the stuff she runs,” said Atlanta guard Layshia Clarendon. “It’s nothing crazy, but we’re all new and we’re all learning each other, the new coaches, the new trainer — it’s a lot of new.”

Clarendon is not only growing accustomed to a new coaching staff and teammates, but she’s getting adjusted to a different role too. It seems that — for now, anyways — the Dream’s starting point guard is Montgomery, who the team signed in the off-season fresh off her second championship with the Minnesota Lynx.

But Clarendon started nearly every game for Atlanta the past two seasons. A year ago, she played well enough to land on her first WNBA all-star team, averaging 10.7 points, 6.6 assists and 3.8 rebounds per-game, playing about 29 minutes per-contest.

So far this season, Clarendon hasn’t played more than 17 minutes in a game. Her season totals so far are 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Coming off the bench has been a challenge for Clarendon, but she’s up for it.

“It has been an adjustment. I came off the bench when I was in Indiana, so I’ve played that role. I enjoy bringing the energy off the bench — and Monique Billings did a good job with that tonight,” Clarendon said. “It’s just an adjustment for me, literally like, how to stay physically warm and ready. It kind of feels like you get in the game and it’s going 1000 miles-an-hour… I’ve played both roles, so I think it makes me versatile.”

Dallas just might be a tough match-up for Atlanta

Collen conceded that this might be the case. After all, this is pro basketball, and how one team’s roster and skills match-up against another is a big reason why teams win or lose.

“Sometimes in this league, there’s just match-ups that don’t go well, you know? And I’m not sure this Dallas matchup is great for us,” Collen said. “They’re as athletic as us and they’re bigger than us. They play a physical and punishing brand of offense and defense.”

The Wings got to the free throw line 36 times Saturday night and made 77 percent of their shots from there. The Wings are a bruising team and got the Dream to foul them often.

A point made obvious by watching the game or looking at the box score is that the Dream simply didn’t have answers for Diggins-Smith and Liz Cambage. Diggins-Smith got to the foul line 13 times and connected on 33 percent of her shots from behind the arc.

Cambage was a handful on both ends of the floor. When she got into the paint on offense, she often scored. When she got into the paint on defense, she was either blocking shots are collecting rebounds.

The 6-foot-9 Australian tallied 14 points, 14 rebounds, an assist and four blocked shots. She had the highest plus-minus rating of anyone on the floor at +17.

“You can’t touch (Cambage),” Williams said with a laugh. “No, I mean, she’s really tall. Like, as simple as it sounds, there are a lot of players that when you play defense you can kind of rise up and get a hand in there. She just takes up a lot of space. It’s just a tough matchup.”

Dallas and Atlanta won’t meet again until August. Both teams could be looking and playing differently by then.