Dream rally to win matinee

Guard Clarendon helps lead turnaround after sluggish start.

With the defensive quickness and leadership of guard Layshia Clarendon, the Dream defeated the San Antonio Stars 77-70 on Wednesday afternoon after trailing by double-digits in the first half.

After falling behind by a gamehigh 12 points in the second quarter, the Dream went on a 14-4 run and narrowed the Stars lead to one point — the closest the score had been since the first three minutes of the game. At the half, the Stars led 39-36.

Dream forward Bria Holmes said having only three days between defeating the Los Angeles Sparks, the WNBA’s defending champion, and Wednesday’s 11:30 a.m. tipoff might have affected the Dreams’ performance in the first quarter.

“We came out a little sluggish,” Holmes said. “We were at ourselves today and I feel like we just had to regroup ourselves at halftime, which we did and we came out more aggressive and energized and I feel like that’s what helped us get this win.”

Holmes had 15 points, two assists and two steals against the Stars.

“We were just talking, it was like a Buffalo Wild Wings’ commercial where like someone put the Saran wrap on the goal,” Clarendon said. “Shots just weren’t going in and a little bit of that is fatigue. ... Those are gonna happen for the best teams (and) the worst teams, so you just have to find a way to pull it out.”

Before scoring six points off free throws in the final 1:05, Clarendon scored only seven points, but her game was far from quiet.

The four-year WNBA veteran

was one of the pieces that started the Dream’s comeback when she substituted back into the game with 8:39 remaining in the first half and the Dream down 12 points.

“We didn’t start off well enough and I think I kind of took that personally,” Clarendon said. “I don’t think I started with enough energy. Early games are kind of hard sometimes. Quick turnaround from the last (Los Angeles Sparks) game which is really draining. So for me, I was kind of holding myself accountable like ‘You need to bring it right now as a leader and just as a player on the team.’”

Clarendon, who entered Wednesday’s game third in the league in assists, had eight assists, five rebounds and two steals in the Dream’s second consecutive win. The Dream are 3-1, and the Stars fell to 0-5.

”Layshia’s our leader,” Dream coach Michael Cooper said. “She’s our coach on the floor. She’s an extension of myself, so she kept us real calm and kept us in the game.”

In addition to Clarendon’s leadership, the scoring trio of Holmes, Tiffany Hayes and Sancho Lyttle allowed the Dream to take the lead late in the third quarter and hold onto it.

Hayes scored a team-high 16 points, and Lyttle had 14.

“You know we have some players like Tiffany and Bria Holmes who drive and penetrate and when they’re doing that that’s we’re really good,” Cooper said.

“So what we’re doing is making the game really, really easy. Stop over thinking it, stop over passing and just play and I thought when we did that we were able to get back in the game.”

The Dream limited Kayla McBride, the Stars’ leading scorer, to six points. McBride came in averaging 16.7 points.

One of the Stars’ seven players who came off the bench was Kelsey Plum, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 WNBA draft. Plum made her first appearance in Atlanta when she entered the game near the end of the first quarter.

“She handled the ball well, she shot the ball well and she wasn’t really on today,” Holmes said. “I didn’t really get to see her in (true) action.”

In her 12 minutes, Plum had six points and one steal.

Next up for the Dream are five consecutive road games, starting with the Washington Mystics on Sunday.

The Dream won’t return to McCamish Pavilion until June 23 against the Chicago Sky.