Forty minutes. It’s not just the length of a WNBA game, but it’s been a focus of the Atlanta Dream since the start of training camp.
They want to win the battle for all 40 minutes – not just 38 of them.
“In the first 38 minutes, we were the top team in the league offensively and defensively,” Rhyne Howard said during training camp about the Dream’s performance last year. “In the last two minutes, we were last.”
Through two games, the Dream have won the battle of the 40 minutes, starting off 2-0 with a come-from-behind victory against the Minnesota Lynx and winning a hard-fought contest against the Dallas Wings.
But in those 40 minutes, there’s been one noticeable trend so far: the starters are playing more minutes than they should be playing.
Through two games this season, here’s how many minutes the starting five are averaging:
- Rhyne Howard: 37.3 minutes
- Naz Hillmon: 34.6 minutes
- Allisha Gray: 33.2 minutes
- Angel Reese: 33.1 minutes
- Jordin Canada: 28.9 minutes
In fact, in their win over the Wings, every starter played more than 31 minutes.
“That was not the plan at all. I’ll just be honest with you,” Karl Smesko told The IX Sports after the Dream’s win against the Lynx. “But we got off to such a bad start, and then we went into halftime and we just kind of said, ‘hey, we’re going to make a run at this.’”
It’s understandable.
It’s the first game of the season. They had a sloppy start with 12 turnovers in the first half against Minnesota, despite averaging just 12.5 per game in 2025. The only bench players who played significant minutes were Te-Hina Paopao and Madina Okot.
“We’ve got a good bench, and we want to use them more,” Smesko said, coming out of the Lynx game.
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But against the Wings, it was much of the same.
The slow start happened again, but it was less about turnovers and more about the Dream being unable to hit shots.
The Dream were 13-of-38 entering halftime from the field (19 shots from behind the arc), and if it wasn’t for the play of Jordin Canada early on, the Dream may have been in another spot where they’d have to come from behind.
Instead, it was 41-38 at the half in favor of the Wings, but as they did in the second half against the Lynx, the Dream were able to adjust their playing style, use up more of the play clock, and keep the Wings from extending the possession defensively.
“I think that’s the consensus with the whole team with just understanding and choosing the moments when we can push the pace and when we’re getting opportunities to get into transition or when we need to slow it down,” Canada told The IX Sports after the game. “Being a point guard, it’s about understanding when to pick and choose the moments of when to push the pace and when to slow it down.”
And while Smesko did play 10 players in this game, Paopao led the bench with 13 minutes played.
The ninth and 10th players off the bench – Sika Koné and Indya Nivar – each saw 1:20 of game action.
“It’s one of those things where the game is in the balance, and you’re just kind of managing and you’re looking at matchups on the other end,” Smesko explained after the game in his press conference. “Hopefully, as the season goes on, there’s going to be a lot more opportunity to limit our starters’ minutes to the low 30s, even under that some because our bench is talented, but they need minutes.”
The minutes that Smesko’s starters are playing aren’t too different from what we saw last year. Howard averaged 34.9 minutes per game, Gray 34.5, and Reese played 31.6 per game with the Chicago Sky.
But Howard and Gray were No. 2 and 3 in the league in average minutes played per game last year, trailing only Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks (35.1).
For the team that had the second-best bench unit last year and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs, they need to find a balance between overusing the starters and getting the second unit minutes even in close games so that they don’t run their players into the ground before the playoffs.
“A lot of them just need more experience out there. So I have to find time for them,” Smesko said. “You know, when the game is back and forth, sometimes it’s hard to, you know, just go with it. But I’m looking forward to them getting some more minutes soon.”
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When you have 44 games in a season, each win matters – especially with the talent in the WNBA. But the road won’t get easier for the Dream, as they have the Aces at home, followed by the Wings, Mercury, and Lynx again before facing the expansion Portland Fire at the Fire Pit to end their May stretch of games.
Finding time for the players to develop will be critical, but when will it happen during that stretch?
As of noon on Wednesday, May 13, the Dream’s bench ranks last in minutes per game, No. 14 in points per game (9.5, Golden State leads with 42), and No. 13 in net rating (-9.5).
The Dream acquired Aaliyah Nye off waivers, who the team is high on, but even as they take on Nye’s former team in the Aces Sunday in their home opener, we may see the starters continue to play big minutes against the defending champions at State Farm Arena.
“I just know with the Aces being such a great team, we can’t have these slow starts. They’ll definitely take advantage of it,” Gray said after the game against the Wings. “I think the biggest thing is just going back to watching film, being a little nitpicky on small things that we messed up so that we can be prepared to face the Aces.”
Whether it’s the starters playing big minutes or it’s the bench contributing, the Dream know that they have to execute better – especially when they are getting open looks close to the rim.
Take a look at these two illustrations below. On the first are the shots that the Dream missed from inside the arc against the Lynx. For the second one, it’s the shots that the Dream missed from inside the arc against the Wings.
That’s a lot of shots inside the paint that the Dream missed.
Is it encouraging that they are 2-0 despite those shots? A good thing that they are getting the looks that they want? Or is it frustrating that they are missing so many shots close to the rim – including uncontested looks?
A mixture, as you’d imagine.
“The big thing we want to know is how many times we’re getting advantage layups at the rim. It’s just like any other shot. Sometimes you don’t finish them as efficiently as you would like, and today was one of those days,” Smesko told The IX Sports after the Wings game. “But, you know, in practice, we finish those, and I expect us to shoot a really good percentage around the rim when we take good shots around the rim, but finding a way to win when you don’t have one of those days and you give away some points at the basket, you know, that’s big.”
The Dream will have a chance to improve on their 2-0 record as one of three remaining undefeated teams in the WNBA this season.
How long they can remain undefeated remains to be seen, but if they want to keep the winning streak going throughout May, they’ll eventually need to scale back the minutes of their starters.