A 2025 Atlanta Dream regular season that finished with a franchise-record 30 wins and No. 3 seed ended with a first-round postseason exit at the hands of the No. 6-seed and injury-plagued Indiana Fever.
The playoff series testified to Fever’s resiliency, and exposed the Dream’s lack of it.
The favored and more talented team, Atlanta folded, failing to demonstrate the persistence and problem solving required in the playoff crucible.
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By swinging on offseason trade for Angel Reese, Atlanta sought to inject the team with those qualities.
While Reese brings plenty of tangible talent, highlighted by her relentless rebounding, her intangibles are equally relentless, as she has introduced an emotion, intensity and aggression into a Dream team that tended to fade rather than find their fury.
The Dream, however, showed little of that fight, pride or passion in one notable game this season: their first game against the Fever.
Visiting Indiana in early June, Atlanta, rather than seeking revenge, appeared content to go through the motions, with their offensive process, in particular, lacking any sense of urgency or intention in the 83-71 loss.
Early in the game, Rhyne Howard attacked Caitlin Clark, driving to the basket and drawing the foul. It was a demonstration of what Howard—standing 6-foot-2 and possessing a combination of quickness and finesse—can do when she opts to be aggressive. But, she and the Dream chose not to press that advantage. Howard’s nine shot attempts were her fewest in a game this season. Her eight points also were a season low.
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In Howard’s stead, Allisha Gray and Jordin Canada were more eager offensively, albeit in ways that were often unwise. The pair overdosed on tough, contested 2-pointers early in the shot clock, resulting in a 27.8 percent shooting night on 18 shots from Gray and a 33.3 percent performance on 12 shots from Canada.
Reese finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, despite the game being one of her lower-usage outings of the season.
All that poor process and purpose resulted in the Dream’s worst offensive performance of the season.
Overall, Atlanta’s offense has been imperfect, as the arrival of Reese, along with the continued absence of Brionna Jones, has prevented the team from establishing the kind of cohesion that characterized their close to the 2025 regular season. The game against Indy was the nadir.
On Thursday night, can the Dream demonstrate that they are making progress? Their performance against a team that has given them trouble serves as the perfect test (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
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Can Atlanta’s attitude and execution come together against a team they should be motivated to defeat? Can Angel, in particular, inspire her teammates to play with a sense of confidence? Or, will the mindset malaise that has characterized how Atlanta has played against Indiana persist?
Dream fans, let us know how you’re feeling in the comments. And Fever fans, do you think your team has the Dream’s number? Are you expecting to cruise to a fifth-straight win?
