Atlanta Dream vs. Washington Mystics –WNBA Preview
The injury plagued Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics will go head-to-head on Thursday night at the Philips Arena. This is the first game between both the teams since Dream swept the Mystics in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.
Atlanta and Washington, both shorthanded, are coming off losses in their season openers because of the absence of their key players. The 2010 Eastern Conference champion Atlanta could be without their key player Angel McCoughtry,
who is under day-to-day observation because sprained left knee. McCoughtry hurt her knee during a training camp on May 25. The 24-year-old guard averaged a team-high 21.1 points per game for the Dream during 2010.
Guard McCoughtry, a third-year pro out of Louisville, did not play in the season’s opening game against the New York Liberty. The Liberty took full advantage of her absence and knocked out the Dream 94-88 in overtime game on Sunday
night at Philips Arena. Dream played a close game in the first three quarters of the game and tied the game. However, Sidney Spencer of the Liberty changed the whole scenario of the game with her single shot.
Trailing by 79-77 with three seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Spencer wound up with an open 10-footer on the baseline and tied the game at 77, sending the game into overtime. New York outscored Atlanta 15-9 in O.T. to walk
away with the first victory of the season 2011.
The Mystics, on the other hand, would be without the services of Alana Beard and Ta'Shia Phillips. The All-Star guard is sidelined with a bruised left foot, while rookie Ta'Shia injured her ankle in 89-73 defeat to Connecticut
Sun in the previous game. Both Mystics players did not take part in the practice session on Wednesday.
The Mystics coach Trudi Lacey seemed confident of her available roster of eight players and said, “We are going to focus on the players that we have,". "They're working very hard, getting better every day."
Besides the absence of the two key players, the poor defence of Washington also played a huge role in their defeat. They gave too many open looks on the night to Connecticut, who shot 57.1 percent from the field and also went 8
of 16 from three-point range.
Coach Lacey admitted her team lacks at the defensive end and said, “We have to step up on the defensive end.” "More pressure on the ball, contest 3s better, play better transition defence. Those are the things that we have focused
on during practice and hopefully we will see a different defensive effort in Atlanta.
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