The Atlanta Dream’s rough week got rougher Thursday night. They dropped their fourth straight game, falling 81-76 to the Washington Mystics at CareFirst Arena. But the final score wasn’t the only thing they were angry about.
Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada went after the officiating in postgame comments, and they didn’t hold back. Hayley Moore of Courtside Cousins was there to catch it.
“Every game has been physical and nothing has changed,” Howard said. “We talk about it, we try to play through it, but it’s hard when only one team is allowed to play that way. We’re doing the best we can to continue to play through it, but at some point, something has to give.”
Howard dropped a game-high 24 points with five threes. Not enough. Canada put up 10 points, seven assists, and two steals. Also not enough. The Dream shot just 36% from the floor, which definitely wasn’t enough.
Canada was even less diplomatic than Howard.
“I’m going to get fined for this but I don’t care,” Canada said. “Tonight, the officiating tonight was terrible, horrible. I don’t know how many times Angel has to get beat up in the paint to get a foul called. I thought all 3 refs were terrible.”
The “Angel” she’s talking about is Angel Reese, who finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Reese only went 1-of-3 from the free throw line, which is notable because she came into the game averaging nearly seven free throws a night. The Dream as a team shot 18 free throws. The Mystics shot 19. Washington had 23 fouls. Atlanta had 22. So the actual free throw disparity was basically nothing, but that doesn’t mean the Dream felt the whistle was fair.
Reese taking hits nobody’s calling
Reese has built her game around physicality in the post, and the Dream’s argument seems to be that she’s getting clobbered without getting rewarded. The numbers don’t back up a massive conspiracy — one free throw difference — but the eye test matters to players who are the ones getting elbowed under the rim. Canada’s frustration boiled over in a way that’s going to cost her some money, but it’s hard to say she’s wrong about the general inconsistency of WNBA officiating. That’s been a league-wide complaint for years.
Georgia Amoore sealed the win for Washington by hitting two free throws with 11.4 seconds left. The Mystics improved to 10-9. The Dream dropped to 12-8, which is still a respectable record but feels worse given the losing streak.
Atlanta’s next chance to stop the bleeding is Saturday against the Golden State Valkyries. They’ll probably be hoping for a different crew of referees. Or at least a few more calls.
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