Dream-Fever Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Sep 27 2012 6:42PM

After the Atlanta Dream eliminated them from last year's playoffs, the Indiana Fever have a chance to return the favor.

Indiana hosts Atlanta in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night.

The Fever went 22-12 to match the winningest season in franchise history and are making their eighth consecutive postseason appearance after locking up the East's No. 2 seed. They beat New York in the first round of the 2011 playoffs before falling to Atlanta (19-15) in the conference finals.

Indiana, though, took three of five regular-season matchups from the third-place Dream, including both home meetings by an average of 11.0 points.

"That gives us some confidence going into these playoffs," coach Lin Dunn told the Fever's official website.

While Tamika Catchings has led Indiana to the conference finals four times and one WNBA finals appearance over the past seven years, she's hoping to take the next step in 2012.

"When you look at it from a standpoint of having all the individual accomplishments but looking at it in the big picture and wanting a team accomplishment, this is it," said Catchings, the WNBA's all-time leader in steals and free throws made.

Catchings, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and seven-time All-Star, also remains very much in the running for her second consecutive league MVP.

"It's definitely a great award, it's a great accomplishment, but at the end of the day, you guys know what I want," she said. "I want a championship. If I don't win MVP but we get a championship, I will be the happiest person in the world."

Coming off back-to-back trips to the WNBA finals, Atlanta also enters the postseason with high hopes.

It's been somewhat of a turbulent year for the Dream, who promoted Fred Williams to coach and general manager after firing Marynell Meadors - the only coach the franchise had ever known - in late August.

Atlanta, which has won seven of 10 with Williams at the helm, put together a season-best four-game winning streak before falling 92-72 at Connecticut in Sunday's regular-season finale.

While Indiana's offense runs though Catchings, the Dream figure to go as far as Angel McCoughtry will take them. Besides posting a league-best 2.5 steals per game, McCoughtry averaged 21.4 points to become the first player in team history to lead the WNBA in scoring.

McCoughtry scored a combined 53 points in Games 2 and 3 of last year's conference finals to help eliminate Indiana.

The Fever might be better prepared this season, however, having finished second in the league in points allowed (72.3 per game).

"I won't say this is the greatest defensive team that we've had, but it certainly is one of our top three," Dunn said.

Indiana is riding some momentum after winning its last two regular-season games, 66-53 at Washington last Friday and 91-58 over Tulsa two days later.

Erin Phillips matched a career high with 21 points Sunday while Catchings added 20 to go along with 10 rebounds.

"When we play together and when we communicate and everybody is clicking on defense, our team looks amazing," said Catchings, whose 82nd double-double moved her into second place all-time.

Harding leads Dream past Fever in Game 1

Posted Sep 28 2012 10:58PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Atlanta Dream knew they wanted to get off to a fast start in their playoff opener against the Indiana Fever.

Lindsey Harding scored 23 points to help the Dream take a double-digit lead in the first quarter and they went on to a 75-66 win over the Fever in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday night.

Atlanta led 25-15 after one quarter and were up 13 heading to the fourth.

``We definitely wanted to punch first,'' Harding said. ``This is a team that usually has very good first and third quarters with running. We knew that we had to not just match it, but overpower (them).

``That was definitely our plan.''

WNBA scoring leader Angel McCoughtry added 16 points and nine rebounds for Atlanta, which beat Indiana in three games in the East finals a year ago. The Dream, who reached the WNBA Finals each of the last two years, opened the playoffs with a road win for the third straight year.

Game 2 is Sunday in Atlanta.

The Dream scored 44 points inside against the Fever, only the second time in franchise history Indiana has given up 40 in the paint. Atlanta also had 14 steals, one short of the playoff record by a Fever opponent - set by the Dream last year.

``We wanted to get up on them, use our quickness and strength and not just match up with them, but put a lot of pressure on the ball,'' Harding said.

Katie Douglas scored 13 points and Tamika Catchings had 10 points and 11 rebounds - her 19th career playoff double-double - for the Fever. Indiana led just once, at 2-0.

``We'll be ready Sunday,'' Douglas said. ``We need to go with more of a sense of urgency and start with more confidence.''

The Dream led by nine at the break as they scored 11 points off 11 Indiana turnovers in the first half. Atlanta also had a 26-16 rebounding edge in the first 20 minutes and finished with a 40-29 advantage.

``We felt that tonight we needed to come out, play physical and dominate the rebounding,'' Dream coach Fred Williams said. ``Its playoff basketball. I was glad the way we had balanced scoring and I thought we really took it to them physically in the second half.

Indiana went on a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull within three with 1:36 to go. However, the Dream responded with an 8-2 run that included a 3-pointer and three free throws by Harding a steal and layup by rookie Tiffany Hayes to seal the win.

``It goes without saying that we're disappointed that we didn't start the game with more energy, more effort, more sense of urgency,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``It took us three quarters to wake up. We need to regroup, bring our `A' game and start with an energy and intensity.''

The Fever were the top 3-point shooting team during the regular season at 40 percent but finished 3 for 13 against the Dream. Catchings and Douglas shot a combined 6 for 23 from the field.

``Tamika and I, as soon as we caught the ball we were seeing trapping,'' Douglas said. ``Just making it very difficult for us to get any kind of clean looks.''

Catchings received her record-fifth WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award before the game.

Starting guards Briann January and Shavonte Zellous returned to the Fever lineup after missing the last three games of the regular season due to concussion-like symptons. January was hit in the chest with an errant elbow from McCoughtry just before halftime. She returned at the 6:26 mark of the fourth quarter.

• Dream: --
• Fever: --

• Dream: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #38 Lamont Simpson, #9 Denise Brooks, #21 Byron Jarrett
• Attendance: 7776
• Duration: 2:09