WNBA Atlanta Dream

Atlanta Dream Eastern Conference Semifinals Preview

Published on September 27, 2012 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Atlanta Dream News Release


The No. 3 seed Atlanta Dream (19-15) will battle the No. 2 seed Indiana Fever (22-12) in the WNBA Eastern Conference semifinals, which begin Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Indianapolis. Games one and two will be televised nationally by ESPN2. Game three, if necessary, will take place next Tuesday, Oct. 2, in Indianapolis, with the time and TV network to be determined.

The series will be a rematch of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, won by Atlanta, two games to one. The Dream advanced to their second consecutive WNBA Finals on the strength of defeating Indiana, where it lost to the Minnesota Lynx.

Atlanta, making its fourth straight playoff appearance, joins Indiana as the only two WNBA teams that won at least 19 regular-season games each of the past three seasons, as well as the only two league teams to post a winning record in each of the last four seasons.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

The Atlanta Dream started the season 4-7 and finished the pre-Olympics portion of the schedule with a record of 9-10. But after the Olympics, the Dream went 10-5 the rest of the way, including winning seven of eight games until the season finale, while clinching the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year.

The Indiana Fever started the season 4-0, before losing four of the next five games to slip to 5-4. From there, Indiana won 15 of its next 20 games to get to 20-9, but ended the season losing three of its last five games to finish 22-12 and earn the No. 2 seed. The Fever clinched a playoff spot for the eighth year in a row - the longest streak in the Eastern Conference.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Indiana won the regular-season series, taking three of the five games. The Fever went 2-0 at home, while the Dream won two of three games in Atlanta.

Angel McCoughtry was Atlanta's leading scorer against the Fever this year, averaging 21.2 points per game. Lindsey Harding averaged 13.4 points and had a team-high 16 assists against Indiana, while Sancho Lyttle was the only other player averaging double figures, scoring 11.6 points per game. No other player averaged more than 6.6 points against the Fever. Atlanta shot just 39.7 percent in its five games against Indiana, including just 24.6 percent from three-point range. The Dream did own a rebounding advantage of +6.0 boards per game.

Katie Douglas and Tamika Catchings provided most of the firepower for Indiana during the regular season meetings. Douglas averaged a team-best 19.4 points, making 18-of-34 shots from three-point range (52.9 percent). Catchings was the only other player to average double figures, scoring 15.8 points per game and adding 8.2 rebounds per contest. Briann January led all players with 24 assists in the five games. Indiana shot an even lower percentage than Atlanta, making 38.9 percent of its shots, but did shoot 38 percent from three-point range.

OVERALL REGULAR SEASON

Known as two of the better offensive teams in recent years, Indiana and Atlanta both excelled defensively this season. The Fever ranked second in the league in points allowed per game (72.3), while Atlanta was fourth (75.8). The Dream led the league in steals (9.8) and ranked third in opponents' field goal percentage (.415) while Indiana was third in steals (9.5) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (.429).

Offensively, Atlanta ranked fifth in the league in scoring (78.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (.434), while Indiana was sixth in scoring (78.3) and ninth in field goal percentage (.418). From three-point range, Indiana ranked second (.400) and Atlanta 11th (.296).

Atlanta was the better rebounding team, having a margin of +0.26 (fifth in the WNBA) while Indiana was at -2.17 (11th in the league), but the Fever fared better at taking care of the ball, ranking second in fewest turnovers per game (13.6), while Atlanta was eighth (16.4).

TALE OF THE TAPE

2012 Averages........... ATL... IND

Points.......................... 78.6.... 78.3

Opp. Points................. 75.8.... 72.3

Scoring Margin........... +2.8.... +6.0

FG Pct......................... .434.... .418

FG Pct. Defense.......... .415.... .429

3-Pt FG Pct................. .296.... .400

3-Pt FG Pct. Defense.. .359.... .331

FT Pct......................... .739.... .814

Rebounds................... 34.8.... 32.2

Opp. Rebounds........... 34.5.... 34.4

Rebound Margin......... +0.3.... -2.2

Assists........................ 18.0.... 16.6

Turnovers................... 16.4.... 13.6

Blocks........................ 4.7...... 4.3

Steals.......................... 9.8...... 9.5

STATISTICAL LEADERS*

Category........ ATL........................... IND

Scoring............ McCoughtry (21.4)..... Catchings (17.4)

Rebounds........ de Souza (7.6)............ Catchings (7.6)

Assists............. Harding (4.5).............. January (3.9)

Steals.............. McCoughtry (2.5)....... Catchings (2.1)

Blocks............. McCoughtry (1.1)....... Catchings (0.9)

FG Pct............. Price (.509)................. Catchings (.432)

3-PT FG Pct.... Kraayeveld (.402)...... January (.430)

FT Pct............. Harding (.818)............ January (.874)

*among players that met WNBA minimums

Check out the Atlanta Dream Statistics

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