Atlanta Dream use balanced attack to decimate Phoenix Mercury, 81-65- WNBA Recap
On Thursday night Phoenix Mercury visited Atlanta Dream without out their key player Diana Taurasi, who has been sidelined indefinitely due to hip strain. As it turned out they were clearly handicapped in the absence of their reigning MVP and Dream took
full advantage of the fact. They pulled away early in the 1st half and with 5 players scoring in double figures, handed over an 81-65 defeat to Mercury here at Philips Arena.
Atlanta attempted 71 field goals, a huge improvement in contrast to the last game played on Sunday. They received a 78-62 defeat from Indiana Fever and attempted only 45 field goals. In that game Dreams reserves could only score 2 points.
However on Thursday Atlanta’s second unit outscored Phoenix's bench 37-10. Dream’s coach Marynell Meadors was all praise for the team, especially reserves.
`I thought we bounced back really well,'' Dream coach said. ``They took the challenge. They played a lot of minutes tonight. They played really well together. They did a great job defensively.''
Sancho Lyttle and Reserve Cathrine Kraayeveld netted 12 a piece for Dream, while Armintie Price and guard Lindsey Harding along with Angel McCoughtry scored 10 points each.
On the other hand DeWanna Bonner tallied a game high 22 points and 10 rebounds for Mercury and forward Candice Dupree had 14 points in Phoenix 2nd loss of the season.
Phoenix never stood a chance in the game and Mercury Coach Corey Gaines had one reason for their plight, Diana, the coach said that losing her is just like Chicago Bulls losing Derrick Rose or Oklahoma City thunder playing without Kevin Durant.
`Well, you know I think Diana is one of the top players in the world,'' Phoenix coach Corey Gaines said. ``Let's put her in the top five. You know whoever is left, it makes a difference in the game.''
Dupree opened Mercury’s account in the game with a jumper. Atlanta rebutted with a 10-4 run to claim a 10-6 lead early into the frame. The game remained close afterwards as Mercury closed the gap to 14-12. But Dream capped off the segment after taking a
19-16 advantage.
Atlanta opened the 2nd period with a huge 18-3 spurt and widened the gap to 37-19. They cruised through the rest of the segment and as the teams headed towards their locker rooms Dream were on top with a 43-27 lead.
With 5:27 remaining in the third Atlanta were up with 52-31. Mercury came up with a 9-2 burst and trimmed down the deficit to 54-40. But Kraayeveld concluded the stanza after hitting a long ranger for Atlanta. As the game entered into its last 10 minutes
Dream were enjoying 17 points, 57-40 lead.
Mercury opened the decisive frame with a freebie, 57-41 but Dream replied with a 16-7 spurt and ballooned their advantage to 73-48. Phoenix refused to go down without a fight and came up with a 17-5 run and reduced the gap to 78-65 deep into the frame.
However they failed to chase down the lead which Atlanta had gained early on. As time expired Mercury rolled onto a 2 game losing streak with an 81-65 defeat.
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