WNBA: Can the Dream make the playoffs for the second-straight season?

All of the tangible progress and intangible positivity the Atlanta Dream (11-21) achieved with their three-game successful streak out of the Olympic break quickly was negated by a four-game dropping streak. On Sunday, Sept. 1, the Dream snapped that skid with a 80-62 victory over the Sparks in Los Angeles.

The only win, remarkably, strengthened their playoff probabilities. The struggles of the Chicago Sky—1-7 since play resumed—have Atlanta tied within the standings with Chicago for the eighth seed with eight video games to play. (The Sky, nevertheless, presently personal the tiebreaker.) For his or her second-to-last sport of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Dream will host the Sky, a contest that would probably decide which group claims the ultimate spot within the playoffs. (At two video games again of Chicago and Atlanta, the Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings additionally might enter the eighth-seed dialog).

To ensure their playoff hopes aren’t extinguished, and perhaps even have improved, by that date with Chicago, Atlanta ought to intention for a .500 document over the intervening six video games. These video games are:

Tuesday, Sept. 3: at Phoenix Mercury (10 p.m. ET, League Cross)

Friday, Sept. 6: vs. Dallas Wings (7:30 p.m. ET, ION)

Sunday, Sept. 8: at Indiana Fever (4 p.m. ET, ESPN3/League Cross)

Tuesday, Sept. 10: vs. Minnesota Lynx (7:30 p.m. ET, League Cross)

Friday, Sept. 13: vs. Washington Mystics (7:30 p.m. ET, ION)

Sunday, Sept. 15: at Washington Mystics (3 p.m. ET, League Cross)

It’s an uninspiring, but sensible, ambition for a group’s that model, sadly, has turn out to be underachievement and inconsistency. So, what must occur for Atlanta meet or exceed this expectation?

A Rhyne Howard sizzling streak

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Gamers enjoying higher is an ostensibly simple answer for any group. However on the subject of Rhyne Howard, the “play higher” adjustment isn’t a far-fetched fantasy.

The 2-time All-Star and 3×3 bronze medalist is having the least productive season of her WNBA profession. Howard’s scoring, taking pictures proportion, rebounding and assists all are down; that’s not what is anticipated of a third-year participant who’s envisioned as a rising celebrity. But, Howard has encountered a conundrum a lot of this season that helps clarify her uneven offensive manufacturing.

Her enchantment as a high-ceiling participant comes from the flexibility and fluidity of her 3-point stroke, one thing she keen seeks to weaponize by taking nearly all of her pictures from behind the arc. Fairly presumably, she’s too fast to hoist a 3-pointer, together with her quantity of powerful 3s contributing her 33.1 conversion fee from deep within the 2024 season, the bottom 3-point proportion of her profession. A silky-smooth 6-foot-2 athlete with the deal with required to navigate tight areas, Howard ought to work her approach to the basket extra usually. However, her 2-point makes an attempt and factors within the paint are down. However, Atlanta’s general exterior taking pictures deficit calls for that Howard create offensive spacing by liberally firing away from behind the arc. The group’s lack of enough spacing additionally makes harder her forays contained in the arc. Howard is Atlanta’s most gifted offensive participant, however the group’s offensive surroundings fails to optimize her expertise.

That expertise, nevertheless, can paper over all these points. As a result of when Howard’s 3-ball is falling, she seems like a future face of the league, scoring with enviable ease. Whereas a sizzling taking pictures streak from Howard isn’t a sustainable answer to Atlanta’s offensive ills, it could be the right accelerant for a short-term playoff push. Sunday’s win in LA featured flashes of a Howard scorcher, as she was 5-for-9 from 3 and totaled 19 factors. Within the eight video games for the reason that Olympic break, she’s taking 9.6 triples per sport, making a decent 36.4 % of them.

The return of Cheyenne Parker-Tyus

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Even previous to her ankle harm, 2024 had been a tough season for Cheyenne Parker-Tyus. A primary-time All-Star in 2023, she struggled to discover a rhythm, failing to mesh with new frontcourt companion Tina Charles. A transfer to a sixth participant position solely incrementally elevated her manufacturing.

Atlanta, nevertheless, wants Parker-Tyus’ presence. Though Lorela Cubaj, the Dream’s lone reserve huge in Parker-Tyus’ absence, performs with nice effort, she lacks the offensive refinement Parker-Tyus provides, even in a season when Parker-Tyus has not been at her finest. Parker-Tyus is usually a scoring menace for a Dream reserve corps that, in any other case, contains gamers with restricted offensive video games. It’s unclear when—or if—she’s going to return from her harm in time to spice up the Dream.

If not, the group should additional burden Tina Charles, a dangerous proposition. Sure, Charles has been glorious of late. The win over the Sparks was one other throwback efficiency, with a double-double of 23 factors and 10 rebounds.

Within the seven video games she’s performed for the reason that Olympic break, Charles is averaging 19.1 factors on 53.7 % taking pictures, whereas grabbing 12.4 boards per sport. These marks dwarf her pre-break manufacturing. Nonetheless, it appears unwise to maintain asking the 35-year-old vet to log almost 33 minutes per evening and carry the group by lengthy stretches. And if Atlanta manages to sneak into the playoffs, they’ll want all of the league’s No. 2 all-time scorer may give them on the postseason stage. The return of Parker-Tyus will help make that occur.

40 minutes of urgency

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For all of the truthful frustrations that may be levied in regards to the 2024 Dream, this group can’t be accused of quitting. Though they fall into holes too usually, undermined by unfocused stretches, they hold enjoying, discovering a approach to be in competition for the win within the fourth quarter.

Within the latter phases of video games, Atlanta has been at their finest, sporting a internet ranking of 4.1 in second halves of their eight video games for the reason that Olympic break. Their first half internet ranking is -1.8 over that very same span; for the season, it’s -4.1, in comparison with an 0.3 season-long second-half internet ranking. A deficit seems to wake the Dream up, however, as indicated by their 11-21 general document, they’ve struggled to beat their slumbering begins.

Certainly the chance to make the playoffs for a second-straight season will induce start-to-finish urgency? On Sunday, the Dream made issues simpler for themselves, establishing a 46-30 halftime lead that allowed them to cruise to the almost 20-point win. Forthcoming opponents will current a harder problem than the last-place Sparks, testing Atlanta’s capability to place collectively a whole sport.