Without Angel Reese, struggling Atlanta Dream can’t stop Fire

The loss was the Dream’s sixth in the past seven games. The victory against Seattle on Thursday snapped a five-game winning streak, but it wasn’t the start of a turnaround.

The Dream (13-10) are sliding down the standings and struggling to make shots. Now, Reese is on the injured list.

“One thing about last year, I don’t think we really had to go through any real struggle,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “I feel like we were ‘struggle deprived’ last year. And then when it comes to playoff time, we never really had to face a lot of adversity …

“We never had to like really dig deep, look at ourselves and figure out what we needed to do. Well, this year is different. It could help us get to where we need to get to if we approach it the right way.”

Reese hurt her ankle during the game against Seattle. She was on the bench Saturday with a walking boot on her right leg. Reese watched her team get sliced up by a bottom-five offensive team.

The Fire (10-13) shot a season-high 60% from the field, including 18-for-26 in the second half. Portland led by 12 points before letting the Dream back in the game with unforced errors. The Dream got their deficit down to 98-92 with 96 seconds left.

Then Portland beat a double team on the perimeter and reversed the ball to Nyadiew Puoch for a layup that put the Dream away.

“I think defensively, every time we made a mistake, they capitalized on it,” Dream forward Naz Hillmon said.

Puoch’s late basket was one of many plays in which Reese could have made a difference. Reese entered the weekend with her team’s second-best defensive rating (on-court/off-court), just behind Jordin Canada, and as the league co-leader in rebounds (11.7 per game).

Beyond the production, Reese gives the Dream the kind of mental toughness they were missing during their disappointing first-round playoff exit last season. That edge was noticeably absent against Portland.

Even when the Dream cut the lead to two possessions late in the game, they didn’t play with much urgency. That’s a bad sign considering the circumstances.

The Dream began the weekend just one game ahead of eighth-place Washington in the bunched-up WNBA standings. The top eight make the playoffs. Missing the postseason would be a spectacular failure for the Dream after they traded for Reese while giving up no players and started 12-4 this season.

“We need to get things together so we can make the playoffs,” Smesko said. “But if we do make the playoffs, I think we can be a tougher out if we have to overcome this. That’s the only way out.”

Rookie Madina Okot filled in for Reese at center against Portland. She finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.

“You can see her athleticism and ability,” Smesko said. “Now, on the flip side, they were making her guard on the perimeter and there were some things there where it was kind of a tradeoff.”

Okot may have more scoring ability than Reese, but the Dream need Reese to anchor the defense. They’ll be deep with bigs once Brionna Jones (knee) returns to the rotation alongside Reese and Okot. Jones participated in practice this week and was listed as doubtful against Portland.

The Fire led 51-44 at halftime. They made 9 of 20 3-pointers as Dream defenders helped too much off shooters. Maybe that’s because the Dream knew Reese wasn’t on the back line to clean up.

The Dream did better with cutting off the Fire’s shooters after halftime, but Portland punished them with 22 points in the paint. That’s harder to do when Reese is patrolling the paint.

She missed her first game of the season on Saturday. The Dream will be in deeper trouble if she needs to miss more.

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