TORONTO — For a second consecutive game the Toronto Tempo had the unenviable task of trying to limit one of the top paint-producing teams in the WNBA.
And for a second consecutive game, that task proved too much to handle.
While the Tempo were nearly able to overcome their size disparity against the Washington Mystics, the same could not be said on Sunday as they fell 102-77 to the Atlanta Dream.
Head coach Sandy Brondello said pre-game that it would require tons of “energy” to contain the frontcourt of Angel Reese and Naz Hillmon, and it was clear right away that her players tried to heed the words of their bench boss.
The Tempo packed the paint, stepped into gaps and were a unit attached together on a string defensively in the opening frame. And although it didn’t result in an abundance of turnovers, it limited the Dream to a lowly 6-of-25 shooting start as they trailed 25-13 after 10 minutes.
A feat made even more impressive considering Nyara Sabally was sidelined for a second consecutive game due to a hamstring injury. Instead, it was Isabelle Harrison tussling with Reese down low, holding the Dream star to just 1-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, eating up many failed attempts to drive up to the rim. And Harrison didn’t stop there, adding nine points in the opening frame with two made threes that came after she backed Reese into the post for a finish up close.
A double-digit lead that was short-lived, however, as the Dream opened the second quarter on a 17-5 run to swiftly tie the ball game. Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko made note of Toronto’s ability to push the pace and catch teams flat-footed (second in fastbreak points), and his team decided to use that formula against the Tempo to mount a comeback. The Dream ran up and down the floor to the tune of 11 unanswered fastbreak points in the quarter — plus-15 for the half — as the Tempo struggled to keep up and ultimately trailed 47-39 at halftime.
That wasn’t before more action between Harrison and Reese, who were jawing back and forth for chunks of the second quarter. It began with Harrison getting called for an offensive foul and Reese swiping the ball away, and then continued when Reese was whistled for a turnover the other way. All of which was backdropped by the 8,210 in attendance at Coca-Cola Coliseum, eating up all the drama and spitting up their loudest roars. And it’s safe to say Harrison led the contentious battle between opposing forwards through 20 minutes, with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting — including a nice curling turnaround finish over Reese, who went into the locker room with just three points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Momentum that was quelled unspectacularly after Harrison was assessed a flagrant 2 foul midway through the third quarter for wrapping up and taking down Reese under the basket, and was subsequently ejected from the game. With the Tempo’s top performer and lone double-digit scorer to that point now watching from the locker room, the Dream carved out a 70-59 lead headed into the fourth quarter.
Toronto did get a brief spark thanks to back-to-back threes from Marina Mabrey and Julie Allemand, as the pair combined for 12 points in the third, but Rhyne Howard responded with a triple of her own before the buzzer to keep Atlanta up double digits.
The Tempo did manage to cut the deficit back down to single digits at various points in the fourth quarter, first on an Allemand above-the-break triple, and then a Conde fastbreak layup, but they got no closer than that as the Dream kept responding in kind.
Underscoring the Tempo’s second consecutive loss was the lack of offensive production from the team’s “all-star level players,” as described by Smesko pregame.
The duo of Mabrey and Brittney Sykes combined to score just 20 points on 7-of-23 shooting, just two nights after pairing up for 47 points against Washington.
“Even when (Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey) don’t get easy stuff, they’re capable of making really difficult plays,” the Dream head coach explained. “But that’s what you have to live it. You have to make them hit tough shots, off-balance, pressure, hand in the face without fouling.”
And so that’s exactly what Atlanta did, loading up on the million-dollar backcourt, as Toronto’s role players — outside of Harrison — struggled to make the strategy pay.
Up next
Action resumes on Tuesday as the Tempo close out their Commissioner’s Cup schedule by visiting Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever to tip off a three-game road trip.
 Atlanta Dream | 102 – 77 |  Toronto Tempo |
 A | Isabelle Harrison 19 MIN, 17 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 6-11 FG, 2-5 3FG, 3-3 FT, 2 BLK, 3 TO, -10 +/- Describing Izzy Harrison’s effort as gutsy would be an understatement. She battled with the Dream’s frontcourt players all night despite the absence of Nyara Sabally, and made Angel Reese’s night a long one. From walling off drives and post ups, to attacking the two-time all-star on the other end, Harrison met the moment, which made her ejection that much more unfortunate. It sucked the life out of the building and the Tempo’s comeback hopes. | ||||||||
 C- | Laura Juskaite 26 MIN, 5 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 2-7 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -16 +/- Not a particularly efficient night but a slick layup off a fake handoff was the loudest basket of the night for the Lithuanian rookie. She passed up a couple of threes early and it laid the foundation for a largely quiet performance. | ||||||||
 C- | Brittney Sykes 35 MIN, 11 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 5-12 FG, 0-2 3FG, 1-2 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, -19 +/- A tepid game for the Tempo’s top scorer, who was kept in check for much of the night aside from the occasional contested pull-up or blowby layup. It was as much about the fact she took just 12 shots, which was well below her season average, as it was about the lacking efficiency. Slim settled into a facilitator roll for chunks of the game and played into how the Dream’s gameplan. | ||||||||
 C | Marina Mabrey 27 MIN, 9 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 2-11 FG, 2-7 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -12 +/- Heading into the game, Dream head coach Karl Smesko said the goal was to live with Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes taking “tough shots” and that’s exactly what his team did. The Tempo’s sharpshooter was hounded relentlessly everytime she touched the ball, struggling to carve out enough room to get clean looks off. She was strong on the glass early, doing her part, but eventually put the blinders on looking for offence and the impact didn’t follow. Her best stretch of shot-making came in the third with a pair of pull-up threes, but that where it started and ended. | ||||||||
 B+ | Julie Allemand 34 MIN, 13 PTS, 3 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 5-8 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 0 TO, -24 +/- One of Julie’s better outings from an offensive aggression standpoint. She was much more willing to drive and let off her layup attempts and even got involved as an off-ball shooting threat, stepping into a right-wing three for the game’s first basket. And it’s clear team’s aren’t accustomed to her playing off the ball and she can take advantage of that, like when she cleaned up her own miss out of the left corner and than promptly zipped it back inside to Maria Conde for the finish. | ||||||||
 C+ | Maria Conde 25 MIN, 12 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-5 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, -12 +/- It was a generally quiet game for the Spaniard until the fourth quarter, when she scored a pair of loud buckets for the Tempo. First a fastbreak layup off a Laura Juskaite steal and then finishing up close through the contact. Conde’s offence has been a mixed bag for a couple of games, but she’s found moments to provide some much-needed energy. Now it’s about extracting that over longer stretches. | ||||||||
 B | Teonni Key 6 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- The rookie found success in her brief stints, not letting the intensity of the matchup get to her. She forced a couple of stops early and than made her biggest play of the game in the fourth quarter, blocking a Madina Okot layup. She may be in Year 1, but Key is making a case to eat into more minutes moving forward for a frontcourt that sorely needs a reliable third big. | ||||||||
 C- | Temi Fagbenle 17 MIN, 7 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 3-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -13 +/- It continues to be a rough ramp up for the veteran in her return from injury. Temi Fagbenle deserves some grace as coming back from a month off to take on two of the better frontcourts in the WNBA is no easy task, but the Tempo simply require more from her defensively especially after losing Izzy Harrison to injury and already without Nyara Sabally. Instead, she laid down a red carpet for Angel Reese to walk on, erasing what impact she did have on the offensive end. | ||||||||
 C | Kia Nurse 8 MIN, 3 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-1 FG, 1-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -8 +/- Brief stint for the vet, but she nailed an early three and let Madina Okot hear about it on the way back down the floor, which provided a nice boost of energy. | ||||||||
 Inc | Tima Pouye 4 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -12 +/- Garbage time. | ||||||||
 C | Sandy Brondello Would have liked to see more emphasis on freeing up Slim and Marina, but that can be easier said than one. Turning to Teonni Key sooner may have been worth considering as well given Temi Fagbenle's struggles, but she continues to have to adjust her lineups on the fly and deserves some grace in that aspect. | ||||||||
Things we saw
- This may come across as bias but the flagrant 2 call on Izzy Harrison felt like major mismanagement on the officiating. They let tension between the two bubble for extended periods instead of dishing out a couple technicals to squash it early. Had Harrison's foul not been after extending jawing and rising tensions, a flagrant 1 would've made plenty of sense, and even then it still probably didn't warrant more. A play on the ball? Not entirely. Malicious? Absolutely not.
- The Tempo drop to 2-3 in the Commissioner’s Cup, very much out of the running to represent the Eastern Conference in the championship game, but at least that’s another $1,000 towards Layup Youth Basketball.
