Can a team finish 10 games below .500, somehow make the playoffs, get swept in the first round and, yet, still feel good about themselves?
That might be where the Atlanta Dream are at.
After a mostly nightmarish season, the Dream seemingly saved their best for last. When it mattered most, they won three-straight games—matching their longest winning streak of the season—and claimed the No. 8 seed. Following a flat Game 1 performance against the New York Liberty, the Dream played to their potential in Game 2, maximizing their strengths—challenging the top-ranked Liberty offense with connected defense while pushing the pace, moving in the half court and putting pressure on the rim to test New York’s top-three defense—in ways they had failed to do consistently throughout the season. If not for a powerhouse performance from Sabrina Ionescu, Atlanta may have forced a decisive Game 3 down South.
Instead, the team can at least take pride in their final performance of the season. Although, it remains worth exploring why it took do-or-die circumstances for that version of the Dream to emerge. Was Game 2 representative of a team finally realizing what it takes to compete game in and game out in the highest-level women’s basketball league in the world? Or, what it just…
