There's no denying that the Atlanta Dream are in a rough stretch right now, losing their last three games. Still, they have the best record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-best record in the league with 12-7. Even with that record, they're only 1-5 against teams that are top five in the league standings—which is not a great sign for a team hoping to compete for a championship.
Atlanta has lost to the Aces, Lynx, Liberty and Valkyries. That doesn't mean they're not a good team, but it does mean that they have a lot to prove.
There are still plenty of opportunities for the Dream to prove themselves
Simply saying the Dream has gone 1-5 doesn't give the full picture. Last week, the Dream traveled to Golden State to take on the Valkyries, but dropped the two-game series. The team does deserve a little slack for those losses because Ballhalla isn't the easiest environment for any team to play in.
During the first game, Atlanta completely dropped the ball, losing 77-66, but they lost by a much narrower margin the next game, losing 78-75. The second game was almost in their control until the end of the fourth when the Valkyries shut the Dream down for the last minute and a half. The Dream faced their biggest problem this year, which is shooting consistency. They have a team full of stars, but they can't seem to figure out how to mesh at once. Despite being at the top of their conference, they're in 10th place in the league in field goal percentage.
Two of the Dream’s remaining high-profile losses were against the Aces and Liberty, who they only faced once. The Dream will take those teams on two more times at defining points of their season. They'll play the Aces twice in August and the Liberty for their last two games of the season. Depending on how well they play them down the stretch, it will tell fans more about how good this Atlanta team really is heading into the playoffs.
Their last loss against a top five team was against the Lynx, but they've played them twice this season, and they're actually tied 1-1. Similar to the Aces and Liberty, they will take them on again, closer to the end of the season, to prove if they are as good as their record suggests.
Brionna Jones will return to the Dream soon
The Dream are struggling right now, but they've been missing their starting center, Brionna Jones. She tore her meniscus while playing overseas in January. Without Jones on the court, Angel Reese has been playing in the center position, which is not her usual spot. When Jones does come back, she will certainly make up for lost time as she's been a consistent veteran player.
Last season she averaged 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Adding her back to the lineup in the coming weeks will strengthen their defense and add shooting consistency that Atlanta has been needing.
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