By Sydney Gibbs

Despite heroic performances from Glory Johnson and Courtney Williams, the Atlanta Dream (2-11) couldn’t overcome the Los Angeles Sparks’ (9-3) offensive firepower in overtime as they coasted to a 93-85 win on Friday night. The Dream couldn’t find a way to add to the winning column and extended their losing streak to 10 games.

“We’re gonna keep fighting every game, and we’re just gonna keep trying to get better,” said forward Shekinna Stricklen. “Keep learning each other. I think today was the best we’ve played as a team. Our chemistry, you’ve seen it. The fire was moving the ball. We were communicating on defense, and that’s something we really haven’t had since we started the season here.”

Atlanta came out of the gates shooting a jumper and a pair of threes and ran off with a 8-0 start in the beginning of the first quarter. Los Angeles slowly began to find an offensive rhythm and ended the first frame on a 25-9 scoring run.

The Sparks controlled the pace for a majority of the second quarter and built up a 12-point lead –– their largest of the game. But with just seconds winding down before halftime, Betnijah Laney connected on a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut into Los Angeles’ lead –– trailing 40-35 at intermission. 

Laney’s three-pointer late in the second helped boost the confidence of the Dream and started to swing the advantage their way. Atlanta developed offensive momentum and outscored Los Angeles 23-16 in the third quarter. Shekinna Stricklen’s three-pointer with 6.3 seconds left in the quarter gave the Dream a 58-56 lead. 

The fourth quarter was a competitive up and down match-up and each team made timely shots down the stretch. Johnson was a catalyst for Atlanta in the fourth quarter as she made momentum shifting shots within under 90 seconds left in regulation. Williams connected on a pull-up jumper with 3.7 seconds left to give the Dream a two-point edge. But the Sparks’ Candace Parker crunch-time playmaking abilities showed as she made a driving layup to tie the game and add an additional five minutes on the clock. 

Overtime was all Sparks as they rattled off 12 points compared to Atlanta’s four. Chelsea Gray made some big plays down the stretch – connecting on two major three-pointers to give the Sparks a commanding lead and escape an upset. Gray’s crunch-time efficiency is no surprise to head coach Nicki Collen as she knows what she’s capable of in games like this. 

“I mean. They have Chelsea Gray. Since Derek’s [Fisher] been there, we’ve played them three times close last year, and it comes down to Chelsea [Gray] time,” said Collen. “You just can’t let it come down to Chelsea Gray time. Quite frankly, she can be bad for three quarters, but when the game’s on the line late, she’s just unbelievably confident. I think that had a lot to do with it.”

Johnson came off the bench scoring a season-high of 23 points on a solid 10-of-16 shooting and grabbing five rebounds. Stricklen added 16 points, four assists and three rebounds. Laney finished the game with a double-double talling 13 points and 11 assists. 

Johnson wasn’t with the team at the start of training camp due to testing positive for COVID-19. When she joined the team, it took time for her to get back to full strength and completely adjust to this new Atlanta Dream team. 

“I think at first I was a little bit anxious to force things,” said Johnson. “Coming in, missing training camp, not really knowing what to expect from a brand new team I know what they expect from me. I think that’s what I tried to bring today, instead of settling a lot for outside shots. Trying to force other teams to guard both when it comes to me. Not just a shot, but when I’m aggressive, to go to the basket as well.”