(Photo credits: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)

The Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings have had disappointing seasons, but they still have playoff aspirations ahead of their match in College Park, Georgia, on Friday.

Atlanta (11-22) enters Friday’s standings tied with Chicago Sky on points, but Sky holds the tiebreaker for the eighth and final playoff spot. Dallas (9-24) is just two games behind Sky.

After a month-long Olympic break, the Dream had won three straight games, but they have since lost five of six. Most recently, Atlanta lost 74-66 at the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday in a game the Dream never led.

Rhyne Howard’s 31 points and Tina Charles’ double-double (12 points and 12 rebounds) were not enough, leaving visiting Atlanta behind 5-12.

“It was a special game by Rhyne,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “Their ability to make shots and hold our own at times was really special. But it was a tale of two halves. We didn’t start out the way we should have and we had to put a lot of effort into the second half to try to come back, but we have to have short-term memory. We have to go home, refocus and regroup and go get Dallas.”

Howard leads the team with 16.7 points per game, followed by Allisha Gray (15.7) and Charles (14.8).

The Wings, who have split two games with Atlanta this season, are coming off a two-game losing streak, after Dallas had won a season-best three games in a row.

The Wings will be looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s 90-86 home loss to the Washington Mystics. Trailing by 15 points with just three minutes remaining, Dallas mounted a furious rally — scoring the game’s final 11 points — but fell short.

“We came out strong in the second half, but we started off slow,” Wings coach Latricia Trammell said. “We’ve got to go into the first quarter and really prove ourselves from here on out.”

Dallas boasted the league’s second-leading scorer entering Thursday in Arike Ogunbowale at 22.6 points per game. Ogunbowale also led the league in 3-pointers made per game (3.1) and steals (2.3) entering Thursday.

–Field Level Media