The Atlanta Dream will look for a season sweep of the Toronto Tempo when the two sides meet on Monday in an Eastern Conference tilt in College Park, Ga.
Atlanta (19-12), which has dropped two of three following a five-game winning streak, sits a half-game back of the East-leading Indiana Fever and is in fifth place overall. The Dream will have an opportunity to take advantage of consecutive games against conference bottom-feeders this week, as they face a pair of 20-loss teams in Toronto (10-21) and the Connecticut Sun (8-23).
Although Atlanta is comfortably in the postseason picture, piecing together complete performances remains an issue.
“I think we just have to have the mentality to come out and be sharper,” Dream guard Jordin Canada said following the team’s 79-74 loss to the Washington Mystics on Friday. “It’s just about being mentally tough and having a championship-preparation mindset. I think that’s what’s missing from our team. We’ve got to come in focused and locked in from the jump.”
Canada is averaging 11.3 points and a team-leading 7.5 assists per contest. Allisha Gray’s 19.1 ppg pace the Dream, who have beaten the Tempo by an average margin of 17 points in the first three meetings.
Toronto is in the midst of an eight-game losing streak — the club’s longest in its debut season. All but one of those games have been decided by double digits, while the struggling Tempo have allowed at least 92 points in seven consecutive outings.
“We’ve got some great players who obviously work really hard, but to be a great defensive team, you need everyone on the same page,” Toronto head coach Sandy Brondello said. “We’re just going to continue to focus on it, push on it and bring the energy. Defense starts with talk, toughness and just bringing effort.”
A bright spot in a lackluster first season for the franchise has been the breakout year for Marina Mabrey. The first-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 20.2 points per contest while shooting 38% on 3-point attempts.
However, she has made just 7 of 20 shots total over the past two games and has averaged 10.5 points since sitting out one game with a neck injury.
Nyara Sabally adds 12.6 ppg for the Tempo, who are searching for their first win since July 12.
–Field Level Media
