The Dream’s Friday night matchup with the Chicago Sky set up nicely for a pick-me-up. After losing two in a row, the Eastern Conference leaders paired themselves with a Sky team they defeated twice in three previous meetings this season.
The bounce-back turned into a 79-75 defeat at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion that at least had the merit of high entertainment value. The Dream never led, were down by 16 at the end of the first quarter and by 17 early in the fourth quarter before drawing even with 4:57 remaining. Led by center Erika de Souza, forward Sancho Lyttle and guard Celine Dumerc and urged on by an eager crowd, the Dream pursued the rest of the way but never gained the lead.
“First off, I think the obvious thing was just the way we came out,” assistant coach Karleen Thompson said. “We left our defense in the locker room.”
Down 66-52 with 8:00 left, the Dream went on a 14-0 run to tie the score at 66-66 with 4:57 to play. They never took the lead.
Down three points on two separate occasions in the final minute, the Dream (15-8) had two chances to tie the score on separate possessions, but 3-point tries by Tiffany Hayes and Shoni Schimmel were both errant.
Lyttle and Hayes led the Dream with 15 points, with Lyttle making seven of 12 shots and Hayes contributing seven assists. Forward Angel McCoughtry scored 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting and had six steals and seven turnovers. Sky guard Epiphanny Prince led all scorers with 21 points.
After a run in which they had won 12 out of 14 games to jump into first place in the conference, the Dream have lost three in a row, but lead the East by four games.
The Sky (10-14) again played without star forward Elena Delle Donne, who has played one game since early June after a recurrence of Lyme disease.
It was the Dream’s first home game without first-year coach Michael Cooper, who underwent surgery for early-stage tongue cancer Thursday at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory Hospital. Cooper, a former Los Angeles Lakers star, is expected to miss two weeks. Thompson, who took his spot on the bench, said Cooper was doing well. She said the team was to see him Saturday.
“He’s going to make a full recovery,” Thompson said.
The Dream will play at Washington at 4 p.m. Sunday (NBA TV). Their next home game will be Tuesday against Connecticut in a noon start at Philips Arena.
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