The Atlanta Dream suffered a narrow road loss to the Indiana Fever 83-80 on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN. NaLyssa Smith was a beast tonight and put up 21 points while grabbing six rebounds for the Fever. The Dream’s Crystal Dangerfield, who came to Atlanta via trade, debuted with six points, three assists, and a rebound.
The main draw of the match, Caitlin Clark, struggled with her shooting in the first quarter, downing only a third of her shots from the field and not making a single three-point shot. But she managed to produce in other areas with assists and drawing out defenders.
Coming off the bench, guard Aerial Powers matched teammate Cheyenne Parker-Tyus’ total of seven points scored in the first quarter. The Dream shot 68.8% from the field in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Dream led the Fever by 15 points, but the hosts made a trio of offensive changes to give them a spark.
Allisha Gray, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, and Tina Charles combined for 31 points for the Dream. Destanni Henderson led her team with five assists.
[Aerial Powers on her excitement for playing with this team] I’m just so thankful, you know? I mean, like, people, we go through ups and downs in this organization. It feels like home already. And then my teammates are just very welcoming and helping me just get back to who I feel like I am.”
With preseason in the books, the Dream will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Sparks as regular season play begins on Wednesday, May 15.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Atlanta Dream via Getty Images
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