The Atlanta Dream fought and clawed but fell short Sunday afternoon in game one of their semifinals match-up against the Washington Mystics in the WNBA playoffs. Washington beat Atlanta 87-84 in front of a big crowd at McCamish Pavilion in Midtown Atlanta.
The Mystics, led by Elena Delle Donne down low, pulled away in the second quarter and basically held even against a surging Dream team in the second half. Donne finished with a game-high 32 points and 13 rebound. Teammate Ariel Atkins added 15 points.
”My teammates have trust in me in those situations to attack and try to make the right read,” Delle Donne was quoted as saying. ”I was flowing today, so they kind of just ran the offense through me. I just had to make reads or attack.”
Atlanta was led by Elizabeth Williams, who finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Tiffany Hayes only knocked down one of five three-point attempts for Atlanta, whose biggest deficit was 15 points.
The Dream were clearly missing Angel McCoughtry, who is out for the season after sustaining a knee injury earlier this month.
Game 2 of the semifinals resumes Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion, where the Dream hope a sold-out arena can hype them up for the win.
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