Rhyne Howard has been struggling to find her shot lately. In the last four playoff games, she’s only shooting about 26% from the field, which is really rough. When one of your top scorers is off like that, it’s tough to expect wins, and the Atlanta Dream learned that the hard way in Game 1 against the Valkyries. Howard was a no-show in the semifinals against the Liberty, but the Dream still swept them. Against a tough defensive team like Golden State, they needed her to step up. Instead, she shot just 21.4%, which led SB Nation’s Noa Dalzell to call her out on the WNBA Today podcast. Dalzell said Howard needs to be better for the team, pointing out her defense had lapses too, and this is the fourth straight game where she’s been inefficient. Howard had a great first round against the Mystics, averaging 20.5 points, but since then, she’s missed a lot of shots. In Game 1, she scored only 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting, with 7 rebounds and a negative plus-minus. The Dream lost because of bad shooting and sticking to a plan that wasn’t working. Coach Karl Smesko admitted they didn’t move the ball well and relied too much on one-on-one plays. Angel Reese tried to take blame, but the team as a whole shot poorly, combining for just 13-of-44 from the field. They need to adjust for Game 2.
