Mystics try to shoot straight at home against Dream (Jun 3, 2017)
In their last game, the Washington Mystics showed they could win despite shooting poorly. All season the Atlanta Dream have shown they can win without star Angel McCoughtry.
The Mystics play host to the Dream on Sunday at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
The Dream (4-1) ended May with a 77-70 win over the San Antonio Stars behind 16 points from Tiffany Hayes. Three other players reached double figures, including Bria Holmes with 15 points.
Layshia Clarendon added 13 and a game-high eight assists. Atlanta trailed the winless Stars 39-36 at halftime, before taking control in the second half.
"We came out a little lackluster at the beginning, and we had to pick it up," said Sancho Lyttle, who had 14 points. "They have good shooters and good spacers, so we were a little too spread out at first, until we figured out where we were supposed to be. Then the game was different."
This season, Atlanta needed to figure out how to offset the absence of McCoughtry, a member of the 2016 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
One of the league's top scorers, McCoughtry announced in January that she would take off the 2017 season to rest.
Wednesday's win showed how the Dream are finding their way without a player who averaged 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 steals last season.
"We played against a team that was fighting real hard, trying not to stay undefeated," Dream coach Michael Cooper said following the victory over the Stars.
"In those types of games, it's not necessarily about what you do but who you are."
Two days later after the latest win, Hayes was selected Eastern Conference Player of the Month and with good reason. The 5-foot-10 guard is averaging 19.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals.
Washington (4-2) won its third straight game with a 78-76 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday despite trailing 73-64 with 4:33 remaining and shooting 35.4 percent from the field.
"A month from now we'll only remember it as a win," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said. "In the moment, it feels really ugly. We made a lot of mistakes and figured out a way to defend hard enough to win."
Elena Delle Donne's 3-point play with 48 seconds remaining capped the comeback by putting Washington ahead 78-75. The 2015 WNBA Most Valuable Player shot a dismal 3 of 15 from the field, but she recorded her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds plus five blocked shots.
"When shots aren't falling early in the season sometimes that will make a team lose a game, and we were able to stay in the game because of our defense and our rebounding," said Delle Donne, who is tied for sixth in scoring with Hayes.
"That's huge. It's something we will continue to improve and get better, and hopefully our shots will fall next time."
Tayler Hill led the Mystics with 18 points. Krystal Thomas had 11 points and nine rebounds.
Washington went 2-1 against Atlanta last season.
