Dream forget to show up in 88-68 loss to the Storm

For the Atlanta Dream the regular season can't end fast enough. Atlanta dropped its third straight Thursday night and seventh in their last nine games with an 88-68 loss to the Seattle Storm. Their once insurmountable lead in the Eastern Conference is now down to just three with five games remaining.

Thursday's game was probably the first time all season that the Dream weren't competitive. They quickly fell in a 29-11 hole at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 13-0 run. Atlanta trailed by as many as 29 points and never led in the game. That is to a Seattle team that entered Thursday in last place and having just snapped a seven-game losing streak.

The return of Erika de Souza, who sat out Tuesday's game with an illness, wasn't enough to jumpstart the Dream. They made just 34 percent of their field goal attempts for the second straight game while allowing Seattle to shoot 52 percent from the field. Tiffany Hayes led Atlanta with 16 points while Shoni Schimmel and Sancho Lyttle added 14 and 10 respectively. Angel McCoughtry finished with just two points and was 0-5 from the field in 21 minutes.

Camille Little led the Storm with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Crystal Langhorne added 17 points while Temeka Johnson pitched in 16 off the bench. Sue Bird finished with 10 points and a team-high five assists for the Storm.

The Dream won't get long to dwell on their struggles as they right back in action Friday night in Los Angeles against the Sparks. Atlanta will wrap up their road trip on Sunday in Chicago.