NBA legend Dr. J on hand but Dream falls

Not even the doctor could bring this one back to life.

NBA legend Julius Erving, better known as Dr. J., sat courtside at the Dream’s 98-72 loss to Eastern Conference leader Connecticut on Friday night.

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Scott Cunnigham / Getty Images

WNBA President Donna Orender poses with NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving during the game between the Atlanta Dream and the Connecticut Sun at Philips Arena Friday.

Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders invited Erving to the game. Erving, an Atlanta resident, offered some advice to help the Dream cure their losing pains.

“My home team is the Atlanta Dream, so I want to see them succeed,” he said. “They certainly need to find a way to defend against the long-range shot, which lots of times boils down to more effort.”

Indeed, the Dream had a hard time finding a way to stop forward Asjha Jones and center Tamika Whitmore. The duo handed the Dream (3-25) their sixth loss in a row, combining for 51 points and hitting 61.3 percent of their shots.

“They were hot. It’s hard to stop somebody like that when they’re really hot,” guard Ivory Latta said. “So you just got to try to contain them more than stop them. You can’t do anything.”

The Dream allowed Connecticut to make 7-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc and 54.7 percent from the field, but they shot dismally on their own 3-point shots, making only 3 of 22.

The month-long Olympic break didn’t seem to break any of the Dream’s bad habits. They fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first quarter. That deficit escalated to a 21 points and Connecticut had safely tucked away the victory by halftime.

Erving addressed the Dream after the game in the locker room, tellling the players to keep their heads up and that he would be back to watch some more.

“It just means a lot for him to come and support women’s basketball,” Latta said. “He’s a legend. Everybody knows who he is and they look up to him, so it was definitely great.”

New addition Nikki Teasley was inactive for Friday’s game. Coach Marynell Meadors isn’t sure if Teasley will make an appearance on the floor this season but is optimistic about the guard’s future in Atlanta.

“We’re going to try to get her back on the court,” Meadors said. “If we can put her in at the end, we’re certainly going to do that. She’s going to give us some great leadership at the point guard.”