Following the heartbreaking 81-82 loss against the Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings head coach Jose Fernandez already knew what was coming at him.

The Dream ended the Wings' hot streak of seven wins in eight games with a disastrous final sequence where Fernandez refused to call a timeout. After the game, he revealed his thought process to reporters.

"No, I mean, it depends on time, score, and opponent, right?" Fernandez said. "We just felt that on sideline out of bounds plays tonight, Atlanta's number one defensively in the league on sideline out of bounds. I didn't want to call a timeout and have them set their defense up.

"There's always gonna be an armchair quarterback going, 'Hey, we should have done this, we should have done that,'" Fernandez stated.

For Fernandez, the game was not decided by the final possession. Instead, he pointed to a series of mistakes in the fourth quarter that ultimately cost the Wings in the end.

"We defend better in that fourth quarter, and we don't give up offensive rebounds. We make our free throws, and we finish the game off, and it doesn't come down to the last possession where everybody remembers, right?"

While Fernandez also addressed the game's officiating, especially the sequence involving a closeout from Arike Ogunbowale, he quickly returned to the bigger picture and admitted that their earlier mistakes made him uncomfortable using certain methods.

However, credit where it's due, as the Dream, powered by Allisha Gray's clutch efforts, made the difference.

Atlanta Dream's Great Escape

Allisha Gray scored five of her 25 points in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter as the Dream came back from a 15-point deficit on Wednesday night.

With Dallas leading 81-77 and 18.7 seconds left, Ogunbowale committed a Flagrant 1 foul on Gray's 3-point attempt.

Gray made all three free throws before taking the inbounds pass and sinking a contested jumper in the lane, giving Atlanta its first lead of the second half with 15 seconds remaining.

Awak Kuier missed a corner 3-point shot before Shepard’s putback attempt at the buzzer missed.

Moreover, Gray had help from Angel Reese, who posted 22 points and 12 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the season for the Dream, who have now won four in a row and five of six following a five-game losing streak.

The 17-10 Dream will take this win any day of the week, as they can continue their win streak against the Seattle Storm before facing off against the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces.

So, do you think the Atlanta Dream are genuine title contenders this season? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Joy Bassy

Edited by

Joy Bassy