Atlanta Dream aim to prove themselves in pivotal six-game road test

A lingering hand injury sidelined Canada for six of the Dream’s final seven games of July heading into the WNBA All-Star/Paris Olympics break last season. Meaning, the veteran floor general wasn’t blowing by her defenders or threading pinpoint passes to set up high-efficiency buckets. She wasn’t hounding opposing guards on defense either. That same injury kept her out for Atlanta’s first 14 games of the 2024 campaign, delaying her Dream debut until June 23 against the New York Liberty.

This season started off no easier. A pair of knee injuries sidelined Canada for the team’s first seven games. She didn’t make her 2025 debut until June 6 on the road against the Connecticut Sun. 

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But since then, she’s steadily improved her cadence and rhythm on the court. She also believes the Dream — one of the league’s top four teams in the standings — are on the cusp of something special, despite some of their recent losses to the Minnesota Lynx on June 27 and the Seattle Storm on July 3.

“I feel like I’m getting back to myself and trying to stack days together, be as consistent as I can be,” Canada said Sunday after the team’s shootaround. “ … Obviously, with the loss against the Seattle [Storm], I think we still battled, we still played hard during the stretch of home games. I think we’re on the right trajectory. We just got to continue to just keep building our chemistry, keep finding ways to get better and grow as a team.”

Just like Canada, Rhyne Howard knows what it feels like to battle back.

Howard rejoined the lineup for Atlanta’s clash with the WNBA’s upstart Valkyries after sitting out the Dream’s previous matchup against Seattle due to an upper-body injury. But even before that, July 2024 wasn’t kind to her. Howard saw action in just one game before the league paused for its midseason showcase and Olympic break. A left ankle injury kept the 25-year-old sidelined for 10 straight games from June 21 to July 14.

Now, with Howard — earning her third career All-Star selection as a reserve this season — back in the fold after a brief hiatus, Canada finding her rhythm along with the team’s other key pieces in Allisha Gray, Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner, the Dream are healthy. They are continuing to grow and seeking to build on their continuity. 

Atlanta (12-7) gutted out a highly competitive 90–81 win against Golden State on Monday. But the road ahead looms large. Starting Friday against the Indiana Fever, the Dream will begin a grueling six-game road swing over a 17-day stretch. Four of those six matchups come against the WNBA’s top eight teams. 

The opposing teams after Indiana include New York, Phoenix and Minnesota. After the trip to the Hoosier State, the Dream will square off with the Liberty on Sunday. Still, Atlanta’s other two opponents on the trek offer no real breather. 

The Dream will face the Chicago Sky to conclude the first half of the season on July 16 and the Las Vegas Aces on July 22 to kick off the second half of the 2025 calendar. Currently, both teams are clawing to stay in playoff contention. For a team seeking to remain in the upper echelon of the league’s standings, this stretch won’t only test Atlanta’s endurance — it could play a part in defining the Dream’s season.

That’s why players like Canada and Griner — both with championship experience — said that the team must view this opportunity as one to grow and a step towards a larger goal to compete for a WNBA title this season.

“I think it’s a big challenge for us to see where we’re at, how we can get better and what type of team we’ll be,” Canada said. “ … Every team is going to have something that doesn’t fit their liking. I think for us, [it’s] this stretch of us having a really hard six-game road trip. … We just have to be mentally locked in, whether we like it or not. We got to make sure we show up, do our job and try to get as many wins as we can.”

Griner agreed: “It’s gonna be a grueling one with [WNBA] All Star [weekend],” the 10-time All-Star said Sunday after shootaround. “We come back from All-Star [weekend], and we’re still on the road. I just need to talk to whoever made that [Dream] schedule. … [But] to win [a] championship, you’re going to have to win on the road at some point. These are all good tests for us.”

Dream eye best first half start in more than decade 

At 12–7, the Dream already sit ahead of where they stood at this point last season. In the first 10 days of July 2024, Atlanta went 0–4 and never recovered, losing all seven of its games in the month. This year, things are different under first-year coach Karl Smesko. Atlanta sits at 1–1 this month with three games left before the All-Star break and a chance to make a statement.

If the Dream win out, they’ll head into the break at 15–7. A 2–1 finish would put them at 14–8. A 1–2 stretch drops them to 13–9, and losing all three would land them at 12–10. In 10 postseason-bound seasons for Atlanta, the Dream posted their best first-half records in 2010 (14–5), 2013 (11–5), 2014 (15–6), 2018 (16–9) and 2023 (11–8). If Atlanta wins its final three before this year’s All-Star break, the team will notch its fourth-best start among playoff-bound seasons in franchise history. 

That start would also mark the Dream’s best opening stretch since 2013, a year where they reached the WNBA Finals under former head coach Fred Williams.

To stay aligned with their goals, the Dream must continue thriving in Smesko’s system, one that emphasizes offensive efficiency, uptempo pace and ball movement, high-volume 3-point shooting, aggressive rebounding, strong bench contributions and sharp, consistent defense for an entire game.

“I feel like we have a really good team,” Smesko said after the Dream’s win against the Valkyries. “We’re not all the way there yet. … You only got half a season left to get to where you need to be. I’m trying not to let that stress go on to the players, but we do need a sense of urgency about getting better every time we’re together. … There’s not that many practices left. … At the end of the year, you want to have the toughest team that you can possibly have. … I like the possibilities of what this team can become.”

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Dream offensive efficiency starts with controlling the paint

Before the Dream’s showdown against the Lynx, Smesko made a deliberate push to feed the ball inside to his dynamic post duo of Griner and Jones. Since notching only 14 points in the paint during their June 24 loss to the Dallas Wings, the Dream have dominated in the paint. Over their last four games, Atlanta has averaged 47.5 paint points — more than 12 above their season average — and topped the 40-point mark in the paint in three of those contests.

Griner has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 10 points and five rebounds per night. Jones, who continues to anchor the paint with consistency, has posted eight double-doubles this season while averaging 14 points and 8.1 rebounds. Even though she didn’t earn an All-Star selection, Jones ranks sixth in the league in win shares (2.8), second in offensive rebounds (3.3) and fifth in total rebounds among the league’s forwards.

“I think [Jones is] so deserving of being an All-Star,” Griner said. “She’s playing like an All-Star. Every night, she’s doing what we need. She’s making an impact. The other team is dreading her. … I don’t know. I’m not saying anybody should come out [All-Star list of players], but I’m just saying she damn sure is deserving, because she is putting in that work.”

Griner and Jones anchor a Dream squad that ranks second in total and defensive rebounds and third in offensive boards, numbers that fuel multiple second-chance opportunities in the paint. Gray (19.4 ppg, leads the team) and Howard (16.7 ppg) also contribute on the glass, both averaging five or more rebounds per game. This season, Atlanta is 8-3 when it outrebounds its opponent.

The Dream also fuel their paint production through aggressive guard play and rebounding on both sides of the ball. Canada, Gray and Howard consistently attack the basket and create high-efficiency looks with sharp cuts and rim pressure. That inside-out rhythm is a big reason why Atlanta currently ranks third in offensive rating (104.1), fourth in points per game (84.4) and fifth in assists (20.9), according to HerHoopStats. 

“[Gray is] such an exceptional talent,” Smesko said. “The year she’s having is extraordinary. Every game she looks more and more comfortable. She’s looking for opportunities, and she’s just a fantastic player.”

The Dream continue to thrive by playing efficiently and sharing the ball. They rank fourth in both points per play (0.93) and field goals made in the restricted area. When they finish games with more assists than their opponents, they are 11–4 in those matchups.

“At times, we’re really good, like top of the WNBA good but it needs to be consistent throughout the entire game,” Smesko said. “Sometimes, we get to playing the scoreboard or we start to adjust what we’re doing when the plan wasn’t to adjust what we’re doing. We want to put pressure on the other team. We want the ball to keep moving for four quarters, no matter what the score is. … You got to keep making plays to win. You got to go win the game.”

Dream must regain consistent rhythm from deep

Three-point shooting remains a core pillar of Smesko’s offensive philosophy. So far this season, the Dream have knocked down 178 threes, the fourth-most in the league. However, they’ve struggled with consistency, ranking tenth in 3-point percentage at 32.2%.

Despite those numbers, Atlanta has shown it can hit trey balls when the moment demands it. Howard and Gray have stepped up in clutch situations and Hillmon has also delivered timely makes from deep.

A key piece of Atlanta’s dip in shooting percentage stems from a recent cold stretch. Before the Dream’s win against the Valkyries, they hadn’t shot 30% or better from three since their June 22 victory against Chicago. Over the four games leading up to Monday’s win, they shot a dismal 19.7% from beyond the arc.

Still, when the Dream get hot, the wins follow. They’ve posted a 6–3 record this season in games where they hit 10 or more threes. 

Hillmon remains key force behind Dream bench production

The Dream currently average 17.4 points per game from their reserves, with most of that production coming from Naz Hillmon (7.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg), rookie Te-Hina Paopao (5.3 ppg, 1.7 apg), and Nia Coffey (4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg).

Hillmon sparked the bench in Atlanta’s win over Golden State, scoring a season-high 16 points and notching her eighth double-digit scoring contest of the season. She has already surpassed her 2024 total, where she reached double figures just six times. Coffey has delivered three games with 10 or more points, while Paopao has done it four times. However, Paopao, the former South Carolina and Oregon standout, has struggled lately. Over the past five games, she has scored only six total points after recording her third 16-point performance earlier this season.

With the All-Star break approaching, if Paopao regains her rhythm and Hillmon, Coffey and the rest of the second unit continue to deliver, the Dream could unlock a deeper, more reliable bench rotation. That added layer of scoring and timely contributions could provide the spark Atlanta needs to climb even higher in the WNBA standings. “It seems like whenever we have a great game, we have at least one or multiple people just have good games off the bench,” Smesko previously said. “When we can rely on our depth, we’re pretty good.”