Dream have just 12 games left to establish postseason seed

The Dream have played some good basketball this season and have shown they can be a dangerous team. But they’ve also swung to the other end of the pendulum.

With over 70% of the regular season elapsed, the Dream will look to make their playoff push.

On Monday, they bounced back with a win over the Tempo after their rally against the Mystics on the road fell short Friday. It was the second time in the last four games the Dream snapped back from a loss resulting from not playing within themselves.

“It tells me kind of what we already know: that we’re a very dangerous team right now, but we haven’t been consistently great, and the goal is to be consistently great,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said of Monday’s win. “And you only have so much time left to get there. But today was a step in the right direction.”

The Dream have 12 games left in the regular season, leaving them with just six weeks to create some separation and establish their positioning for the postseason.

Entering Monday, the Dream sat tied with the Mystics with the same record. The Mystics own the tiebreaker after winning Friday in D.C., claiming two of the three matchups this season.

However, the Dream’s win over the Tempo on Monday moved them to 20-12 and bumped them up to fourth in the WNBA. They’re tied with the Fever for the best record in the Eastern Conference and sit six games behind the league-leading Lynx, who have already clinched a playoff berth.

“… I still think there’s a lot of improvement to be made on our end if we want to be the best team that we can be at the end of the season,” Smesko said.

“And I think our players feel the same way,” Smesko added. “They know what we’re capable of, and when we execute the things we work on at a high level, we see how well it works.”

Of the Dream’s 12 remaining games in the regular season, four are against opponents that would make the playoffs in the current standings — including two matchups with the currently seventh-place Liberty to end the season. As of Tuesday morning, just a half-game separates the No. 4 and No. 7 seeds.

While there isn’t a lot of time to figure things out, the Dream do get a breather with the two-week World Cup break that runs from Aug. 31-Sept. 16. Both Rhyne Howard and Angel Reese will represent Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, and Smesko has spoken about the balance the team needs in their minutes played.

Meanwhile, the Dream have gotten some veteran experience back in the rotation with the return of forward Brionna Jones. Jones has added even more stability and size in the frontcourt, though the team has had to navigate through her minutes restriction as she returns from offseason knee surgery.

Jones’ return has taken some of the pressure off the team’s starters, though the Dream still lead the league in starters’ minutes by nearly two minutes per game.

But even before Jones’ season debut July 17, the Dream struggled to sustain the good habits that led to wins. They have a 12-3 record against teams below .500 but have an 8-9 record against those above .500.