Forget the result — Dream show clear ceiling against Aces

ATLANTA ― A shorthanded Atlanta Dream team took the Las Vegas Aces to the brink of defeat on Sunday.

Let's be clear. Moral victories don't exist for an organization like Atlanta that has championship goals. The team either wins or it doesn't. There's no in between. Still, Atlanta erased a 17-point deficit, outscoring Las Vegas 20-4, over the final eight minutes of regulation on Sunday, May 17. That sort of late-game burst on both ends of the floor, after an underwhelming offensive game, says a lot about the Dream.

Atlanta ultimately fell, 85-84, after Aces guard Chelsea Gray sank a gritty, go-ahead jumper with 3.6 seconds remaining. Gray later sealed the victory with a timely steal on Dream guard Allisha Gray as time expired.

Overall, Atlanta shot 37% from the field and just 22% from 3-point range. Still, the Dream held two Aces starters scoreless and forced nine total steals as a team. Atlanta also scored 42 paint points and won the boards 45-38. The Dream were also without two of its best players, as Bri Jones has a meniscus injury and Rhyne Howard is in the concussion protocol.

"Obviously, a tough finish, but proud of the way our team stuck with it," Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said postgame. "Proud of how we competed, and I think we have a lot of room for improvement, which is really exciting for what we're capable of doing. But, obviously, that doesn't make us feel any better in this particular moment."

Sunday's down-to-the-wire matchup wasn't the first time this season Atlanta has erased a deficit of more than 15 points. On May 9, the Dream came back from down 19 points to stun Minnesota, 91-90, on the road. Guard Te-Hina Paopao nailed the game-winning basket with 11 seconds remaining before Gray stuffed an Olivia Miles scoring attempt late, and Angel Reese sealed the victory with a gigantic block as time expired.

"We just gotta do a better job of not getting down so much because it hurt us tonight. It didn't hurt us last game, but tonight it really did because we lost by one point after being down (19)," Paopao said postgame. "I'm super proud of our fight tonight. Just hope that we could put all four quarters together."

It's not ideal for Atlanta to play from behind with double-digit deficits in multiple games. That sort of tendency can catch up to a team at the worst possible time ― hello, WNBA playoffs ― if not fixed.

However, Atlanta's ability to overcome the big leads shows that the Dream are more than capable of rising to the level of play required to be a championship team. It also shows that with more time together, additional reps and better execution, Atlanta can hold its own against the top teams in the league.

"I think we all want to see (that fourth quarter resiliency) all the time," Smesko said. "The energy. The competitiveness. That was great. The more we can see that, the better ... There'll be more opportunities. This is a long season. We're gonna keep getting better. I think we have the makings of a great team."

The Dream seem to be on the same page as their coach. Paopao noted that while a team like Las Vegas is the standard for what it could be, Atlanta believes it can be its own team with its own set of standards and achievements.

"We're gonna create our own measuring stick. We have a lot of things we wanna do. We're gonna be a different team when everyone's healthy, and we get all the kinks out and get the chemistry going. We're going to create that measuring stick for other teams as well," Paopao said. "We're just excited to get a better day in and day out."