Although the Atlanta Dream clinched a playoff spot with a win against Chicago on August 14th, the last five out of six games have been “nightmarish” dropping each of them. They hoped for better luck with the Washington Mystics coming to Philips Arena. The Mystics were fighting for the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Dream raced out the a 4-0 lead but that would soon change as costly turnovers would change the momentum as the Mystic would go on a run to lead 7-4 at the 6:09 mark in the 1st quarter. Both teams would try to use their quickness and run but not be able to score the ball effectively, missing layup after layup. Eventually the Mystics would take command of the half-court and take 15-9 advantage spearheaded by former Duke Star Monique Currie who had a game high 20 points. Atlanta’s offense continued to be ineffective, missing shot after shot and the quarter ended with the Mystics leading 25-16.
A flagrant foul by Iziane Castro Marques, who ended the night with just nine points, at the beginning of the 2nd quarter would push Washington’s lead to 30-18, after Matee Ajavon’s free throw. Ajavon would have 11 off the Washington bench. The offense continued to be troublesome for the Dream through the 2nd quarter as the score was extended to 16 with 5:50 left in the 2nd. Currie and Katie Smith continued to torch Atlanta’s defense with baskets and the Mystics would take a 54-37 lead into the half. Coach Marynell Meadors of the Dream would later say that “they’re a good team and we have to play better defense in the first half.”
Baskets by Castro Marques and Sancho Lyttle, who ended the night with 17 points, would cut the 3rd Quarter lead by four but Monique Currie would continue to knife through the defense to end the mini-run, leading 60-45 with 6:08 left in the 3rd. Atlanta’s awful shooting continued throughout the quarter and that continued with costly turnovers helped fuel the lead for the Mystics ending the 3rd Quarter with a 23 point lead. The 4th quarter saw leading scorer Angel McCoughtry show signs of life by hitting a 3 pointer at the beginning of the 4th quarter but great offense flow in the half-court by Washington would keep the Dream at bay. Atlanta finally got on track late in the 4th quarter, showing the fight that put them in the playoffs by cutting the deficit to 12 with 3:25 left in the contest. They used aggressive defense and baskets by McCoughtry and CoCo Miller, who had 14 off the bench for the Dream. The lead for the Mystics would dwindle down even more as Atlanta would cut the lead to seven on a Miller 3 pointer and free throws by Armintie Price with 1:23 left in the contest. But it was too little, too late as free throws by Katie Smith and a blown layup by Lyttle would prove to be devastating as the Dream fall to the Mystics by the score of 90-81. Along with Currie’s 20, Crystal Langhorne dropped 18 and Nakia Sanford would 10 points and 5 rebounds off the Mystic’s bench. For the Dream, the leading scorer was Angel McCoughtry with 19, Lyttle with 17, and CoCo Miller with 14. Atlanta will face this same Mystics team in Washington on August 25th in the opening round of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
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