WNBA Takeaways: Washington Mystics dominate Atlanta Dream 97-76, force Game 5

Thanks to Elena Delle Donne’s comeback and Kristi Toliver’s shooting, the Mystics are still alive in the semifinals

WASHINGTON, D.C. — About 75 minutes before the Washington Mystics were to face off against the Atlanta Dream in a must-win Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals, you could hear everyone in the building breathe a sigh of relief when Elena Delle Donne came onto the court and casually started going through her usual warm-up plan.

She confidently went through her running and agility drills, then moved on to her shooting practice, which she nailed, as she always does. Even though the word wasn’t official for another 20 minutes or so, it was clear to all watching that the Mystics would not have to go through this game without the 2015 MVP like they did on Friday night. Just five days after suffering a bone bruise on her left knee during Game 2 in Atlanta, Delle Donne was back in action.

And boy oh boy did that give the Mystics a boost.

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The Mystics absolutely dismantled the Dream on Friday, 97-76. Delle Donne remarkably had a double-double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds, which is just a heroic effort so soon after such a painful injury. But it was a true team effort. There were six Mystics players in double digits — all five starters plus Tierra Ruffin-Pratt off the bench. Delle Donne and Toliver — who led the way with 22 points, seven assists, and three steals — were joined by Ariel Atkins (19 points, 4 rebounds), Natasha Cloud (13 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, 4 rebounds), Ruffin-Pratt (11 points, 5 rebounds), and LaToya Sanders (10 points, 7 rebounds).

For the first seven minutes, this was a back-and-forth game filled with scrappy defense and poor shooting. But the Mystics went on an 11-2 run to close out the first quarter, and never surrendered the lead again. They shot 50 percent, a big increase over the 36 percent they scored on Friday night, and were an impressive 12-for-26 from beyond the arc. Five players hit three pointers for the Mystics — including Ruffin-Pratt, who is not known for her range — and four of those players (Atkins, Delle Donne, Toliver, and Cloud) hit multiple threes.

Toliver was particularly impressive, shooting 8-for-16 from the field, including 4-for-9 from outside, after failing to make more than four shots in any other game this playoffs. She also played every minute of the game, until she was subbed out when the game got out of hand.

In press, she jokingly attributed her energy to Miller Lite, and said she hadn’t let herself get too down about her shooting slump. Her motto? “You’re either hot or you’re due,” she said. “Obviously I knew I wasn’t hot. So I knew it was coming. That’s what shooters do. You’re ready for the moment.”

Other takeaways:

It’s impossible to overstate how ridiculous Delle Donne’s performance was. A double-double. A +24 rating. 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. She’s dealing with an injury that kept Bryce Harper out for six weeks!

But getting back into this form so quickly literally took around-the-clock rehab. Here’s what Delle Donne has spent her last few days doing:

“I would have killed coach if he didn’t let me play full out,” Delle Donne said in press, when asked if she was surprised that she played 33 minutes. “He knows. I gave him the look, and he knew I was fully ready to go and wanted to be in there as much as I possibly could.”

Atlanta had an abysmal night at the free-throw line. It’s hard to really know what to take from Atlanta’s night. There were six players in double digits, but nobody had a high-scoring night; four players scored 12 points, while two scored 11 points. The Dream need much more production, especially from stars like Tiffany Hayes, who was only 4-for-12 for 12 points on the night.

But, I believe Atlanta’s biggest problems were an uncharacteristically off night from Elizabeth Williams, who was 2-for-6 for 5 points and only three boards; and a staggeringly awful night from the line, where the team was 14-for-25. You’re not going to win many playoff games shooting 56 percent of your free throws. Of course, it would help if Brittney Sykes, Jessica Breland, and Alex Bentley could get to the line. Their inability to draw any fouls on the night was indicative of just how much the Dream struggled inside; Washington outscored Atlanta 36-24 from the paint.

Renee Montgomery was the bright spot. Montgomery has been curiously quiet this playoffs, especially considering she’s the Dream player with the most playoff experience. But she notched a double-double on Sunday, going 3-for-6 from the field (all three pointers) for 12 points, and dishing 10 assists. She’s going to need to do all that and more if the Dream are going to survive and advance on Tuesday.

Ariel Atkins isn’t the Mystics’ only impressive rookie. Look, Atkins deserves all of the praise that she gets. The seventh-overall pick scored 19 points, and eight came in a dynamic stretch in the fourth quarter that put the game fully out of reach for the Dream. And her addition to the WNBA’s all-defensive second team is no joke.

But Myisha Hines-Allen deserves some love, too. The second-round pick out of Louisville was a very important player early in the season, before getting trapped at the bottom of the log-jammed depth chart, and spending most of the second half of the season on the bench.

But she saw some action when Delle Donne was out last game, and then really was relied on in Sunday’s game after center LaToya Sanders got in foul trouble. Hines-Allen had two points, two assists, and five boards in 13 minutes. Her teammates have nicknamed her the “Ox,” and she knows that she’s earned her playing time thanks to the hard work she’s been putting in with the coaches during practices and even after practice.

I asked Thibault why he had so much confidence in her, in that he was willing to play her in these intense playoff games after not playing her much all season, and he was just full of praise for the Louisville star.

“I think for one thing she’s so athletic, and this is a team of athletes,” Thibault said. “She has quick feet, she’s strong, she knows how to block out, she gets rebounds in traffic, she sets great screens, she might be our best screen setter on our team, and that gets people open. Down the stretch, she got Ariel Atkins open on a three, she gets Kristi open on a pick-and-roll for a big play, and she just has high energy. We did some switching just like they do against us, and she’s able, with her athleticism, to stay in front of their guards when she switches, and that’s a big key for us.”

Aerial Powers has had an incredibly emotional few days. Aerial Powers almost single-handedly kept the Mystics in Game 3 against the Dream, with a team-high 18 points. But it wasn’t until Saturday, when I talked with Powers at practice, that I learned how truly remarkable that performance had been.

First of all, remember: She just came to the Mystics six weeks ago. She’s still learning the playbook. She loves the team — everyone has been so nice to her, especially Delle Donne and Toliver — but it’s still been overwhelming. Last week, Powers found out that her great grandmother, who she was very close with and was previously in good health, had unexpectedly passed away. She was devastated. She asked Thibault if she could leave the team to go to the funeral, and he actually agrees. So on Wednesday, the day after Delle Donne’s injury and the first loss to Atlanta, she flies to Michigan for her great grandmother’s viewing, and then for the funeral on Thursday. She then immediately comes back to the team.

On Friday during shootaround, she remembers Thibault saying something about her playing the 4 in the game that night if Delle Donne is out. Powers thinks he is joking, because she hasn’t played the 4 since the beginning of her junior year at Michigan State. That was five years ago. She hadn’t even practiced at the position. Plus, she’s still learning the playbook at the 3, and is still unfamiliar with the Mystics’ system. But coach puts her in, at the 4, and she ends up playing 22 minutes in a playoff game at a position she doesn’t know, just 24 hours after attending the funeral of a loved one, and she rocks it. Eighteen points, 8 rebounds.

Powers didn’t have as much to do during Sunday’s game; she played under seven minutes and scored 4 points. But she certainly has earned the trust and respect of her new team after all of that. Plus, if anything should happen in the future, she did practice at the 4 on Saturday, so she should be good to go!