The Atlanta Dream are playing without injured All-Star Rhyne Howard and could use a boost Wednesday afternoon against the host Chicago Sky.
Atlanta (12-9) has dropped five of its past seven games and lost Howard on Friday to a knee injury in a 99-82 loss to the Indiana Fever.
The Dream expect to be without Howard and her 16.5 points per game for the rest of the month. In their first game without her, they fell 79-72 to the New York Liberty on Sunday.
Atlanta held a 42-31 halftime edge at New York but scored just 11 third-quarter points as the Liberty pulled ahead and won. Atlanta shot just 3-for-13 in the third quarter (23.1 percent) and 9-for-30 in the second half (30 percent).
“(New York is) one of the best teams in the league,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “When they get it going, you’ve got to step up and knock down some shots and at least be able to trade baskets with them a little bit. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that … they closed that gap real quickly in the third quarter.”
Allisha Gray led five Atlanta players in double figures with 16 points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Meanwhile, Chicago (7-14) has won two of its past three games as it tries to climb into the playoff picture.
The Sky lost 91-78 on Monday to the Minnesota Lynx despite an impressive performance from All-Star Angel Reese with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Starting guards Michaela Onyenwere and Ariel Atkins both left the game with injuries and are game-time decisions against Atlanta.
The Sky, who commit the most turnovers in the league at 15.7 per game, had 19 turnovers in the Minnesota loss.
“When we take care of the ball, we can be pretty formidable offensively,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. “We talk about valuing possessions all the time … we’ve got to take care of it.”
The Dream won the first two matchups of the season between these teams, 88-70 on June 13 and 93-80 on June 22, with both games played in Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
