Don’t look now…but is that the Atlanta Dream at the top of the Eastern Conference standings?
You guessed right—those are indeed the Atlanta Dream at the top of the Eastern Conference standings with a 5-1 record…two games ahead of the 2-2 New York Liberty.
The Dream were also the first team this season to reach the century mark in a game this regular season. Scoring over 100 points translated to victory for Atlanta as they defeated the Dallas Wings by a final of 102-93 in Arlington.
Despite only making two of their 11 attempts from three against the Wings, the Dream still managed to shoot a robust 53 percent from the field. They also forced 19 Dallas turnovers. Six players for both teams notched double-digits for points, including Atlanta’s Angel McCoughtry who had 26 and Dallas’ Plenette Pierson with 16.
The Dream’s Sunday home matchup against the Indiana Fever would be more of a defensive-minded test, but it too ended in victory for Atlanta, 85-76 over Indiana.
It would be a history making game down South in Georgia as Tamika Catchings became only the second player in the history of the WNBA to score 7,000 points for her career. The Basketball Hall of Fame is asleep at the wheel if they are not working on her plaque as this is read.
Philips Arena’s nickname is the Highlight Factory—the Dream provided plenty of those against Indiana—particuarly McCoughtry who had 22 points, and Layshia Clarendon who concluded with 17 points plus five rebounds and two steals.
Prior to the Fever’s loss to the Dream, Indiana suffered an earlier defeat against the Minnesota Lynx—the team that beat them in last year’s WNBA Finals.
The Lynx outscored the Fever 29-6 in the first quarter, and the game through three periods appeared to predict another Minnesota blowout victory—something that has been a formality so far this season.
Except—Indiana outscoring Minnesota 18-5 in the fourth quarter made it more of a closer game than it was through three quarters. The Fever got within as little as two points in the final period.
Yes, the Lynx did win to remain undefeated at 5-0 (ala the LA Sparks), but some fans of the Lynx may take this one more as a loss than a win given the way it became close in the fourth quarter. The Lynx blocked 11 Fever shots.
Minnesota did get 12 points each from Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus, but Maya Moore was held to under 10 points (she did have eight assists) and Sylvia Fowles was held scoreless while still putting up six rebounds.
When you lead by as many as 15 in the second half, that typically translates to a victory as well, right? Unfortunately, for the Chicago Sky, a 62-47 lead at one point in the third quarter would not be enough to hold off the San Antonio Stars, who eventually won by one, 79-78 at the AT&T Center.
This was despite another 27 points out of Elena Delle Donne. But thanks to 16 from Haley Peters and 13 out of Monique Currie, the Stars reach the win column for the first time in 2016.
The Sky turned blue once again for Chicago in North Texas when the Sky topped the Dallas Wings, 92-87.
Against the Stars, Chicago had only three players in double-digit points. When playing Dallas this past Sunday, they had six, including Cappie Pondexter’s 18 in over 32 minutes. They also got another 14 from Delle Donne and 10 points and eight rebounds from Imani Boyette.
Odyssey Sims led the Wings with 23 points.
Surprisingly enough, the Sky got the win despite only attempting seven free throws the whole game (while making six of them). Dallas, on the other hand, attempted 27 and made 24.
The Wings are now 3-3 while the Sky stand at 2-4.
As for the team that was a heavy favorite prior to tip-off and was previously winless before last weekend—the Phoenix Mercury, they too earned their first win of the season, meaning there are no longer any winless teams this year in the WNBA.
The win for the Mercury was a 93-77 victory over the Washington Mystics in Arizona.
Diana Taurasi’s 28 points, along with a 16-point outing from Candice Dupree led the Mercury to its first win of the season. Phoenix also got 14 points and 12 rebounds via DeWanna Bonner and 13 points via Britney Griner.
The Mystics were only down by three at the conclusion of the third quarter, but thanks to a 24-11 fourth quarter for the Mercury, it became a 16-point loss for Washington. Stefanie Dolson scored 14 and Emma Messeman had 12.
The Seattle Storm were also winners this past weekend as they defeated the Connecticut Sun by a final of 93-81 at KeyArena on Saturday.
The third quarter would be pivotal as Jewell Loyd scored 11 of her 26 points in the third period. Seattle got five assists each from Loyd as well as from Sue Bird, who herself also dropped 14 points. Crystal Langhorne finished with 18, a season high for her while Alysha Clark and Breanna Stewart both had 11.
Connecticut, now at 1-4, was led by 17 points by Jasmine Thomas.
By: Akiem Bailum (@AkiemBailum on Twitter, Instagram)
