Dream get crushed, served by Aces

The Atlanta Dream seemed to be living the dream for the first two games of the season, but they received a rude awakening Friday night courtesy of the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces rolled the Dream 96-73 on the southside of Atlanta on the back of 24 assists in what was a complete team performance.

The Dream couldn’t get much going offensively with only two scorers in double digits in comparison to the six double-digit scorers that the Aces had. That allowed for the latter to lead by as many as 27 points at one point.

The Dream were also very sloppy with the ball with some very uncharacteristic turnovers, including one play at the end of the third quarter where guard Kristy Wallace had stolen the ball and was prepared to score in transition until her layup was blocked. They had 19 turnovers in total.

“Part of that is our offense too,” Atlanta head coach Tanisha Wright said. “It got stagnant, and because of that, they got the ball, and now, we’re just throwing it all over the place.”

The biggest reason for the Aces’ offensive success was the fact that they attempted 18 more 3-pointers than did the Dream and made eight more. Kelsey Plum and Riquna Williams combined for seven 3-pointers and they both had 14 points.

With this win, the Aces move up to 3-1 and the Dream have their first loss of the season after previously winning their first two games of the season.

Rookie Rhyne Howard and second-year player Aari McDonald were the Dream’s leading scorers with 13 and 20 points, respectively.

“I know where her spots are and how to get her the ball and when to,” McDonald said.

Center Cheyenne Parker had some big defensive plays for the Dream at the beginning of the game, including a block on Aces All-Star forward A’ja Wilson, as well as a steal. However, Plum managed to hit two 3-pointers which helped build a 23-12 first-quarter lead for the Aces.

It got even worse for the Dream, as they ended up trailing at halftime 49-33 and eventually went on to lose by more than 20 points.

Up next for the Dream is a road trip to the Hoosier State on Sunday to take on the Fever. Meanwhile, the Aces will head back home to Sin City to face off against their rival in the southwest region, the Phoenix Mercury.