Before Tuesday night’s 82-73 home win over Minnesota, Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright was asked about resuming the season.
“Business as usual,” she said.
The business lately has been all about winning. Atlanta earned its seventh straight victory despite squandering all but one point of a 22-point second-quarter lead, using a late 11-0 surge to finally put the Lynx away.
Now the Dream try to extend their longest winning streak in five years on Thursday when they make the trip to Uncasville, Conn., for a late-morning tip-off with the Connecticut Sun.
Atlanta (12-8) got a team-high 21 points from Rhyne Howard, plus a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double from Nia Coffey in subduing Minnesota. Coffey drained a key 3-pointer and Howard added a three-point play in the late run.
The Dream overcame 9-for-35 second-half shooting, including a 1-for-14 effort from the 3-point line.
“We have to be more mature where when our shots aren’t falling, we can still count on our defense to get shots,” Wright said. “Eventually, our shots will come back to us.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut (15-6) is coming off a surprising 72-66 loss Tuesday night in Phoenix, which won for just the fifth time in 20 games. The Sun finished 18 points below their per-game average, making only 36.1 percent of their field-goal attempts.
Connecticut got 19 points and 10 rebounds from DeWanna Bonner, plus 11 points and seven assists from Alyssa Thomas. Flying under the radar, Thomas is putting together an MVP-worthy season, averaging 14.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists.
“She’s doing everything,” Sun coach Stephanie White said of Thomas. “She typically has done everything and you’ve seen it in her numbers but I think she’s even taken it to another level this season. She really is the heart and soul of this team and this franchise.”
This will be the third meeting between Atlanta and Connecticut. The teams split the first two matchups, each winning on the road.
–Field Level Media
