Defense, big shots leads Atlanta Dream to unlikely win over Minnesota Lynx
ATLANTA â Nineteen seconds remained in a one-point game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Atlanta Dream after Jessica Breland swatted back Rebekkah Brunsonâs 17-foot jumper.
More from Atlanta Dream
- Your Day in Womenâs Basketball, October 19: NCAA shakes up schedules, not scholarships
- Your Day in Womenâs Basketball, September 28: All-Rookie team announced
- Womenâs Basketball, September 17: NCAA Hoops to start Nov. 25
- Your Day in Womenâs Basketball, September 14: Mystics are going dancing
- Your Day in Womenâs Basketball, September 10: Dream are (mathematically) stayinâ alive
Atlanta center Elizabeth Williams corralled the ball and Dream coach Nikki Collen called a timeout. Everyone in McCamish Pavilion knew that the final shot was going to come from the hands of Angel McCoughtry or Tiffany Hayes. The duo wound up combining for 38 points.
McCoughtry cradled the ball near the top of the key and then drove towards the paint after Williams set a rock-hard screen on Maya Moore. McCoughtry got to the paint and saw Sylvia Fowles in front of her. McCoughtry could have elevated for a shot and hoped for a foul, but instead flipped the ball back to Hayes.
Then Hayes drove. Suddenly, three Lynx defenders closed in on her. This left McCoughtry wide open in the corner. Hayes tossed the ball back and McCoughtry swished a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Dream their first lead of the second half, and ultimately, their first home win of the season.
Behind McCoughtryâs 18 points and Hayesâ 20 points, the Dream topped the defending champions 76-74 Tuesday night in Atlanta. The win broke a nine-game losing streak for the Dream against the Lynx.
âI donât think anything like that is ever rehearsed. Itâs just something that happens from hard work and practice. Thatâs just not rehearsed. Thatâs what makes it so great,â McCoughtry said. âYou donât think. I think if you think, then thatâs how you mess up. You just got to let it fly and not think.â
It was McCoughtryâs first star-like moment of the season and her best game of the season since returning from a year-long WNBA hiatus. She played 24 minutes, shot 50 percent from the floor, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and tallied three steals.
Hayes continued her impressive scoring streak â sheâs averaging 17.5 points per-game so far this season â but Collen was more impressed with her defense. Hayes was often tasked with guarding a four-time champ and five-time all-star, Moore.
In Mooreâs return to her old stomping grounds â Moore went to high school in Gwinnett County, just east of Atlanta â she went 8-of-19 from the floor, didnât attempt a free throw and turned the ball over three times in an 18-point outing.
âI cannot say enough about Tiffany Hayesâ defense. I know Angel guarded (Moore) some, but Tiffany took the assignment and she takes it seriously,â Collen said. âI coached (Alyssa) Thomas, who was all-defense last year, and Tiffany Hayes is just as good of a defender and has to guard tougher players because Maya probably has 30 pounds on her and three or four inches. (Hayes) was unbelievable in limiting (Mooreâs) shots, let alone makes.â
Hayes peeled off the tape from her arms while taking questions from her reporters.
Sheâs listed on WNBAâs website at 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds. She fell to the floor and drew several fouls on Tuesday, but didnât seemed to be bothered by bumps or bruises.
âIâm used to that,â Hayes said. âI keep going.â
Defense becoming Dreamâs identity
Collen is a defensive coach and made it clear early on that she wanted this team to be great at disrupting the other sideâs offense. Early on, it seems to be their calling card.
The Dream forced the Lynx into 17 turnovers, and also came away with 13 steals and five blocked shots.
Four games into the season, the Dream are first in the league in steals per-game (10.8), second in blocks (6) and second in forced turnovers (17). Atlanta has made its opponents have the leagueâs second worst offensive rating at 95.2.
Whatâs been Atlantaâs early secret to defensive success? Collen said she âover-scoutsâ but Hayes says that Collen comes up with âreally good game-planâs defensively.â Like in any other facet of the game, itâs been a team effort.
Atlanta isnât going to out-rebound many teams and they certainly arenât going to out-shoot teams from the three-point line. But if they can keep the game in the 70âs and keep wearing opponents out, then theyâll have a chance to win early games while their offense continues to mesh.
âWhen I took this job, I knew that this team wasnât a great three-point shooting team,â Collen said. âWeâve tried to add shooting, but the reality is, weâve got to go with what weâre good at, and youâre not going to take our athleticism away.â
Elizabeth Williams, the Dreamâs underrated defender
After the game, McCoughtry admitted that Williams, at times, doesnât get enough credit.
âTo guard Liz Cambage and then Sylvia Fowles, and then Sunday sheâll have Brittney Griner, itâs not easy. They have a big height advantage on (Williams), but she still grinds it out, boxes them out, gets rebounds, does what she has to do,â McCoughtry said. âI think sheâs a big asset to our team. Iâm going to make sure I start personally thanking her for what she does, because itâs not easy to be down there and be banging.â
Williams led the Dream in minutes played Tuesday night with 33. She tallied eight points, seven rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot and three steals. But much of what the 24-year-old center does doesnât show up on the stat sheet.
On the Dreamâs game-winning play, McCoughtry doesnât have the space to make her initial drive to the lane if Williams doesnât sneak over to set a stunning screen on Moore, an all-defense selection last season.
And then sometimes, her plays do show up on the stat sheet, like when she packed Mooreâs shot in the second quarter.
Williams is also often tasked with guarding the best bigs in the league, and most of them are much taller than her. Williams is listed at 6-foot-3 and three days after trying to contain the 6-foot-8 Cambage, Fowles â the leagueâs reigning MVP â stepped into her world.
âI thought Elizabethâs defense on Fowles was unbelievable. Especially when (Fowles is) allowed to travel on most of her post moves. Itâs hard to guard her for eight seconds in the lane,â Collen said. â(Williams) fought over every screen. She knew when they were coming.â
Against Williams, Fowles finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting with four turnovers and a plus-minus rating of negative seven.
After the game, Williams quickly retreated to the trainerâs room for a cold tub session. Knees deep in for 15 minutes is what she needed to begin her preparation for the next game.
âFowles is really hard to guard. She gets really good position in the paint, so I just try to disrupt that. I tried to help when I could, but not over-help,â Williams said. âYou have to get to her early. She does her damage when sheâs right under the basket, so I try my best to push her out, make her take the extra dribble so that somebody can come and help. Just make it a tougher shot.â
Atlanta hosts another tough team on Sunday in the Phoenix Mercury. But if the Dream lean on their defense, if Williams can continue to contain powerful 5âs, if McCoughtry and Hayes hit a few big shots â who knows? The Dream might win another game that they werenât supposed to.