A garage-style door comprised the makeshift backdrop in the bowels of the Staples Center. Darius Taylor plopped into his seat and readied to speak with a small group of attending reporters. An audible sigh came from the microphones, the Dream interim coach placed his palms on his face and rubbed his eyes in disappointment.
The time neared 10 p.m. in Los Angeles on Thursday, and Taylor showed a sense of fatigue. Maybe from a three-game road trip that’s a couple of thousand miles from home. Maybe from late nights. Mainly, however, consecutive heartbreakers to the Los Angeles Sparks — two games in three days in which the Dream held fourth-quarter leads and lost at the buzzer — had taken their toll.
“It’s unfortunate that we leave here like this again,” Taylor said in a deadpan tone.
Four days before, the Dream came out of the Olympic break with guns ablaze. They felt as if new life had been discovered. They were ready to discard a dreadful first half that saw only six wins and only two since May 29. They headed west with the plans to see their progress show on the biggest stage.
But it didn’t.
The Dream’s improved defense has decreased the opponent’s scoring average. A furious 19-6 fourth-quarter comeback in Thursday’s loss gave evidence to those strides, but they fell victim to two soul-crushing plays.
On Tuesday, the Dream held a lead for most of regulation over the Sparks. The Dream’s late-game specialist, veteran guard Courtney Williams, made a shot with 4.7 seconds remaining to give her team a lead. A few seconds later, however, Sparks forward Kristi Tolliver made a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to force overtime and give Los Angeles an advantage to walk away with victory.
Two nights later, the Dream looked stagnant. Taylor acknowledged that his team didn’t have flow on offense, and the Sparks’ lead swelled to as many as 15 points. The Dream showed signs of life when rookie Aari McDonald and Crystal Bradford made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Los Angeles had possession with around 20 seconds remaining, and Williams committed a foul and the shot clock reset to 14 seconds.
“I made that mental mistake,” Taylor said. “I shouldn’t have made Courtney foul.”
The Dream had to move on and make one final stand. Los Angeles went to their hero, Tolliver, once again. She missed a 3-pointer. A buzzer sounded, and everyone froze. Except for Nneka Ogwuimike. She made the tip-in shot with 0.1 seconds remaining, and the Dream walked out of Staples Center with another last-second defeat.
“That’s a teaching moment,” Williams said. “You can’t be mad at anyone. But those types of losses are the ones where you look back and think ‘Damn.’ That’s tough.”
The Dream (6-16, 11th in the WNBA standings) head back home with 10 games remaining. On Saturday, the Dream plays a nationally televised game against the Phoenix Mercury (noon, ESPN2). The Mercury defeated the Dream 92-81 to open the recent trip.
The team’s final 10 contests include games against Las Vegas and Connecticut, among the league’s upper-echelon. The Dream, though, aren’t shifting their focus from trying to get back into contention. A six-win team could take a selling approach with the coming trade deadline and look ahead to 2022, but the team doesn’t see itself at that point yet.
Williams labeled their needed improvements as “mechanical.” Taylor suggested that the Dream need a first win under his leadership to regain confidence for the season’s final month.
“We’re right there,” Williams said. “A couple of possessions (go our way) and the game is ours. It’s a focus thing, not an effort thing or a chemistry thing. Our problems now are things we can fix.”
The Dream still has no timetable for the return of second-year guard Chennedy Carter, who was suspended July 4 for conduct detrimental to the team. Cheyenne Parker isn’t returning after announcing her pregnancy. The Dream have added Tiffany Hayes into the fold, who made her first appearance in a month-plus since tearing her MCL.
The Dream have the advantage of pinpointing their areas of concern, rather than having to throw a large blanket across a heap of big-picture issues. The team can work on free throws, end-of-game situations and offensive cohesion with the hope it all comes together in a game. The last time the Dream had an uber-successful 40 minutes of play was a 101-78 win over the Washington Mystics on June 13.
“We’re not in panic mode. We’re determined to get over that hump,” Williams said. “It’s never too late. Everyone has been seeing the shift.”
The heartbreakers sting. The Dream wanted to see behind-the-scenes work transfer onto the scoreboard. It has yet to happen, but two possessions could’ve written a different tale.
“We’re desperate for a win, but I like where everything is headed,” McDonald said. “We have to clean it up and come back ready to play.”
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