Dream, Aces both looking to ignite second-half surge

The Atlanta Dream begin the second half of the season with three straight road games starting on Tuesday night against the Las Vegas Aces.

It's the first matchup of the season between two teams hoping to make a strong push for the playoffs.

Atlanta (13-9) overwhelmed the short-handed Chicago Sky before the break with an 86-49 victory last Wednesday, but that win followed a run of inconsistent play for the Dream with five losses in their previous seven games.

"It's been a little uneven, meaning there are some times where we play at a level that's right at the top of the league," Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. "And then there's other times where we just kind of lose focus and just kind of lose our principles of how we're supposed to play."

Tuesday is the first night of a back-to-back for the Dream with a Wednesday night visit to the Phoenix Mercury.

Making matters worse for Atlanta is the absence of star Rhyne Howard, who injured her knee in a loss to the Indiana Fever on July 11.

Howard is not set to return until August, which puts Atlanta at a disadvantage against Las Vegas (11-11) and superstar A'ja Wilson.

The three-time MVP leads the Aces in points, rebounds, steals and blocks per game, including 37 points and 10 rebounds in a 90-86 victory over the Dallas Wings last Wednesday.

The Aces' .500 record would indicate that the team needs more than Wilson to get back near the top of the league.

"She cares about winning and the winning hasn't come enough. She'd pretty much trade any of those numbers for more wins," Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said of Wilson. "It takes a full team and typically as great as A'ja is, our team goes as our guards go. There's three of them. There's only one of her."

Offseason acquisition Jewell Loyd was expected to replace former Aces and current Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum, but the six-time All-Star is averaging 11.2 points per game on 38.2-percent shooting this season. That's the lowest scoring average for Loyd since her 2015 rookie season.