Rhyne Howard #10 of the Atlanta Dream goes to the basket during the game on September 1, 2023 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)

13 Lead Changes and 11 Ties Throughout the Game

By: Terry Horstman

It looked good for the Atlanta Dream (17-20) in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Lynx (18-19) on Friday Night at Target Center in Minneapolis. Aari McDonald took a corner three right in front of the Minnesota bench that found nothing but the bottom of the net and gave Atlanta a 74-67 lead with 2:28 to play in regulation.

Atlanta’s next field goal didn’t come until there were only 46.5 seconds left in Overtime, another McDonald three, but this one cut Minnesota’s lead to six and the Lynx eventually pulled away in a tightly contested game filled with playoff implications and the atmosphere to match. There were a total of 13 lead changes and 11 ties throughout the evening. Neither team held a lead greater than single digits at any point.

“I thought it was good playoff basketball,” Atlanta Dream head coach Tanisha Wright said after the game. “This is how things are going to be. Everybody’s fighting for their lives so every little possession matters. We didn’t come up with the win today, but I thought we showed great fight, good energy down the stretch, and throughout times within the game when I thought we really needed that. This is playoff basketball, so you have to make sure that every possession counts.”

The Dream created enough chances throughout the night to put the Lynx away and move one step closer to a playoff spot, but the ball just didn’t fall in key moments and left the door open for Minnesota. Atlanta shot 32-of-88 (36.4%) from the field and 5-of-19 (26.3%) from beyond the arc.

“We got looks,” Wright said. “We had opportunities throughout the game. We got the looks that we needed, we (have) to knock them in. And we have to be sharper in terms of our execution, but you know, good playoff basketball.”

Cheyenne Parker led the Dream in scoring for the fourth consecutive game, hitting 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, her 10th game of the season with 20+ points. Naz Hillmon and Aari McDonald combined for 27 points and led a high-scoring Atlanta bench that outscored Minnesota’s 32-24.

The Dream have some time off before their next opportunity to march towards the playoffs. They travel home to host the Seattle Storm on Wednesday, September 6 at 7:00 pm.

“From a coaching standpoint, it’s nice to have a couple days where you can rest,” Wright said. “A lot of people played a lot of minutes today. We went into overtime so to have a couple days to really rest, get away for a little bit, and then come back refreshed and renewed, I think that’s going to be a good thing.”