Dream Extend Losing Streak Fall To The Sun

Ab Stanley

When Atlanta stepped on the court Tuesday night, they were hoping to snap an eight game winning streak, they would fall short of accomplishing that feat. The Connecticut Sun seemed to hit every shot as they took care of the Atlanta Dream 96-75.

Sun center Jonquel Jones scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Guard Alyssa Thomas added 10 points and six assists.

Dream guard Brittany Sykes scored 23 points, pulled five rebounds and dished out five assists for the host Dream.

Connecticut got out to an early lead of 10-2 and never looked back. Pushing the ball up the court after every Dream missed shot, their transition offense led to easy points.

In the half court, they used a lot of screens and picks to keep Atlanta in mismatch situations all night.

Coach Michael Cooper was asked after the game about their half court offense, “They are a very good team and they hit their shots, I thought we took as many shots as they did but theirs seem to go down,” stated Cooper.

The Sun shot 47.3 percent from the field and the Dream 36.6 percent. The Sun would also knock down eight three pointers and the Dream would only hit two.

Atlanta was without leading scorer Tiffany Hayes and it would show. Hayes is suffering from a rib contusion.

Sykes continued to be an offensive wizard in her rookie season. She showed a slew of dribble moves to elude defenders and seemed to get every shot she wanted. After the game, she would credit her team’s philosophy as the reason.

“It’s just one of those things where we drill it in practice where we do a lot of dribble drive action. We know that’s gonna be our layups so when teams pack the paint on us, we have to look for ort shooters and kick out,” stated Sykes.  Her two three point shots would provide the only outside shooting for Atlanta.

Game notes:
The Dream (10-19) are two games out of a playoff spot with five games left to play.
Dream guard Layshia Clarendon scored zero points but dished out a game high 11 assists.
Sykes’ 23 marks the fifth time she scored 20 or more this season (17 starts)

Ab Stanley

Atlanta, GA

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