Dream-Mystics Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Aug 31 2011 12:26PM

After a disastrous start, all the Atlanta Dream need to do to return to the playoffs is take advantage of a favorable stretch over the next four days.

The surging Dream can move another step closer to the postseason Thursday night when they go on the road to try to hand the lowly Washington Mystics a 10th straight loss in the opener of a home-and-home set.

Atlanta got its defense of its Eastern Conference title off to a slow start with a 3-9 mark. The Dream are playing better now as winners of eight of 10 and three straight, and they can cut their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to one with a victory Thursday.

"We have amazing spirit on this team," coach Marynell Meadors said. "I'm very proud of them. There were many times when they could have folded up."

The Dream (16-13) return home Friday to face Washington (5-24) before hosting league-worst Tulsa on Sunday. Two victories will put Atlanta back into the playoffs.

The club's confidence is on the rise after back-to-back wins over East-leading Indiana. Angel McCoughtry had 28 points and Sancho Lyttle hit a short jumper with 0.9 seconds left in Tuesday's 92-90 home victory.

Atlanta closed the game on a 9-2 run.

"This team has a lot of heart," said McCoughtry, who is second in the WNBA with 20.7 points per game. "We showed that again tonight and we've shown it all season. When you have struggles in the beginning, it makes winning so much better."

A big reason for the turnaround is the play of McCoughtry, who played sparingly in a 98-90 home loss to Washington on June 9 in the Dream's second game of the season. She averaged 25.0 points in the next two meetings, with Atlanta winning both at the Verizon Center.

The Dream will try to do a better job of containing Crystal Langhorne, averaging 25.7 points on 52.7 percent shooting to go with 10.0 rebounds per game in the season series. Langhorne is second in the WNBA in field-goal percentage at 55.6.

Washington has not lost 10 straight since an 11-game slide June 13-July 9, 2003. The Mystics fell 73-56 at league-leading Minnesota on Tuesday.

Langhorne scored a team-high 13 points after averaging 24.7 over her previous three games.

"We couldn't score the ball and we had some turnovers, and against a team like Minnesota who is so talented offensively, we can't let them get transition baskets and things like that," she said.

Ajavon lifts Mystics past Dream to end 9-game skid

Posted Sep 01 2011 10:36PM

WASHINGTON (AP) Matee Ajavon scored 11 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Washington Mystics to an 85-81 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night.

Crystal Langhorne had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Jasmine Thomas scored 12 points as Washington (6-24) snapped a nine-game losing skid. Monique Currie, making her season debut after recovering form a torn left ACL while playing in Turkey in the offseason, finished with eight points and three rebounds in 9 1/2 minutes.

``She's (always) on the bench, giving us insight on what she can see from the bench,'' Thomas said of Currie, who averaged 14.1 points per game with Washington last season. ``So to have her actually go in the game and provide that information and put it into play, it was important.''

Angel McCoughtry scored 30 points for Atlanta (16-14), which snapped its three-game win streak. The Dream, two wins from clinching a playoff spot with four to play, dropped one game behind third-place New York in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta hosts Washington at home on Friday night.

``We have been taking steps forward,'' McCoughtry said. ``This is just a little bump, and tomorrow we've got them again.''

After trailing by 10 points early in the third quarter, Ajavon helped the Mystics slowly pull away in the fourth. She hit a baseline jumper, a pair of foul shots and then a 17-foot jumper before Currie's foul shots sealed an 8-2 spurt that gave Washington an 81-74 lead.

Then, after Atlanta closed to 81-79 on two free throws by McCoughtry, Ajavon made a contested 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:20 to play.

``I just, you know, was aggressive and I took what they gave me,'' Ajavon said.

Langhorne did much of her damage in the third, scoring 10 points in an 18-4 run that gave the Mystics a 64-60 lead. But McCoughtry countered with a pair of free throws and a fading jumper to tie it at 64-all as the third quarter ended.

Currie entered to a standing ovation with 2:05 left in the first quarter and shot 2 for 4 from the field and 4 for 4 on free throws.

• Dream: --
• Mystics: --

• Dream: --
• Mystics: --

• Lead Changes: 13
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
• Officials: #39 Michael Price, #7 Clarke Stevens, #34 Maj Forsberg
• Attendance: 7954
• Duration: 2:00