Dream see postseason hopes dim in 72-69 loss to Mystics

This crucial game was ugly.

The Atlanta Dream came into Friday night locked in a tight battle to make the playoffs — a postseason that starts in just about a week’s time. The other two teams aiming to crash the party are the Chicago Sky, who are one game ahead of the Dream in the standings with four games to play, and Friday’s opponent, the Washington Mystics.

The game was the 100th in the career for Rhyne Howard, who is finishing up her third season after being drafted first overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft.

The Dream got off to a hot start with a couple of early transition buckets after stops. But as quickly as it began, the offense hit the skids and both teams traded periods of ragged play.

The Dream regained control by attacking the basket, finishing the first quarter with 12 points in the paint — almost as many as the Mystics had overall (14). Maya Caldwell contributed to that total with this tough bucket.

Lorela Cubaj did the same on the screen-and-roll.

Atlanta went into the second quarter up six. They soon ceded the entire lead to Washington after some rough shotmaking. Atlanta had a stretch of 15 field goal attempts in a row that they missed, but they were miraculously able to hang in the game with their defense.

After the first half, the Dream trailed 34-30.

The offensive stall continued into the third quarter, as the Dream went on an extended 1-for-26 shooting streak from the floor spanning the first to the third quarters. After finally taking the lid off the basket, the Dream cut into a Mystics lead which had ballooned to 11 at one point.

This Rhyne Howard assist to Jordin Canada finally opened the scoring floodgates.

After three quarters, the Dream trailed by three, 52-49.

The final quarter was another dicey affair with made baskets few and far between. The Dream finally wrestled back the lead with 2:07 left to play and had to dig deep to maintain the winning edge.

But Atlanta gave up cheap points to the Mystics and found themselves down three with 34.4 seconds remaining. A Howard off-balance leaner cut the lead to one briefly. But after an intentional foul, the Dream couldn’t conjure up the tying bucket on the other end and fell 72-69.

Following this matchup will be a game in DC against the Mystics on Sunday followed by the home finale against the Sky on Tuesday.