In this week’s Bowman Beat, the Dream makes some new additions to the roster, one of whom makes a big splash.

Indiana Fever 90, Atlanta Dream 79

Play started again on Tuesday with the struggling Indiana Fever taking on the Dream at Philips Arena.  With Tiffany Hayes and Aneika Henry playing in the European Games in Azerbaijan for five games, Roneeka Hodges took over Hayes’s spot in the lineup.  Indiana’s roster was out Shavonte Zellous, Erlana Larkins and Natasha Howard all out with various injuries, the Dream was in a position to take advantage and give the 9,814 fans that showed up on Kids Day a win to take home.

Unfortunately, Indiana exploded with 33 points in the second quarter in a game where Indiana came out in an aggressive mindset.   Down 49-34 at halftime, Atlanta would fall behind by 27 points in the third quarter.    Over those three quarters the Fever shot an amazing 8-for-16 from 3-point range with Marissa Coleman and Maggie Lucas leading the way.

Roneeka Hodges, who shot 0-for-7 over the first three quarters, scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter and the Dream whittled the Fever’s lead down to 84-77 with 2:14 left in the game.  In the final minute Indiana’s Briann January would get a pair of free throws, and then steal the ball from Shoni Schimmel to force the Dream into fouling to catch up, to no avail.

Atlanta’s Sancho Lyttle would lead all Dream players with 19 points and Erica Wheeler would be the first Dream player this season to score double digits from the bench with 13 points.  Maggie Lucas of the Fever’s 17 bench points were a career high, and she shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

Coach Cooper on Atlanta’s comeback:  “I think they got tired of getting kicked in the stomach and decided to do something about it. And had we taken that kind of attitude earlier, we wouldn’t have been in that hole.”

Hodges on the second quarter:  “I think we just lost focus defensively. When teams start making their runs we just have to sustain it and continue to play.”

Atlanta Dream 74, Chicago Sky 73

This game will be known as the “Phantom Bucket” game for reasons to be explained later.  On Friday, the defending Eastern Conference champions marched into Philips Arena for the first game since Elena Delle Donne scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to knock Atlanta out of the 2014 playoffs in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.  Would she go off again?

After WNBA rules forced the Dream to go out without replacements for one game, Atlanta could finally bring in Sydney Carter and Cierra Burdick to replace Hayes and Henry.  There were two things Chicago didn’t bring this time – Sylvia Fowles…and their shot.  Chicago shot an abysmally low 26.7 percent in the first half in a physical match that sent both Carter and Erika Wheeler hurting and back to the bench until the second half.  (Wheeler took a particularly painful knee to the chest from Della Donne.)

Foul shooting kept Chicago in the game as the Sky went 17-for-17 from the free throw line as the first half ended with Atlanta up 37-36.  Cierra Burdick was a real force for the Dream, making some silly mistakes but also making shots and working as a defensive force for Atlanta.  Burdick would finish the game with a +10 in plus-minus, a stat which combines Burdick’s contributions with that of her teammates.

It would be the same in the fourth quarter – what Atlanta scored the Sky made up at the foul line.  With 1:42 left in the game, Delle Donne missed a shot and a blocking foul was called against the Dream.  However, the referees were confused and thought she made the shot, even though she clearly missed it!  Nineteen seconds later, a basket by Courtney Vandersloot would put Chicago up 73-72.

With 1.6 seconds left, the Sky’s Clarissa Dos Santos was at the free throw line.  She missed both of her shots.  The ball would be in Atlanta’s hands with 1.3 seconds left, and on the in-bound play Roneeka Hodges found Angel McCoughty on the wing.

McCoughtry had to free herself from Cappie Pondexter’s clutches to make her last moment shot.  BULLSEYE!  It was time for Atlanta fans to celebrate and for the referees to wipe the sweat from their brows.

Four players scored in double figures for Atlanta.  Erika de Souza had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Cierra Burdick debuted with 11 points off the bench.  Elena Delle Donne scored 26, but the Sky only shot 35 percent.

Burdick on the phantom bucket and the final play:  “The refs are human; they are going to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect so we can’t worry about that. We have to worry about things we can control. The play was huge. It was so clutch, probably one of the clutches plays I’ve ever played with. What a shot that was, it was fun to watch.”

New York Liberty 73, Atlanta Dream 64

On Sunday afternoon, the Dream thought they were ready for their rematch of the first game of the regular season when they lost to the Liberty at Madison Square Garden.  The Liberty, however, were there to prove differently.

Cierra Burdick got quality time in the first quarter, but the quality player was Carolyn Swords of the Liberty as a 10-0 mid quarter run helped New York establish a 21-10 lead at quarter’s end.   Against a starting lineup that included Swin Cash, Atlanta struggled, shooting just 23.5 percent for the quarter and with the Liberty getting the upper hand in rebounds.

In the second quarter, the Liberty continued to trust Swords on the pick and roll, and soon she had her third double-digit game of the season.  With New York shooting better than 50 percent at one point, the Liberty moved at one point to a strategy of packing the lane and daring the Dream to shoot.  On Atlanta’s side of the court, the Dream were shooting 25 percent and only had eight points in the paint.

Tempers flared.  An altercation with Matee Ajavon and then Angel McCoughtry led to Tanisha Wright picking up two technical fouls and a quick exit out of the game.  Five technicals were handed out in the second quarter with New York leading 40-28 at halftime.

It wouldn’t get any better in the third, as New York built their lead to 21, with the Dream shooting 22.7 percent with 4:49 to go.  In the fourth quarter, Roneeka Hodges – who had gone 0-for-5 over the previous three quarters – would hit three 3-pointers as Atlanta went on a 13-2 run to close the gap to 63-56 with 1:59 left.  Atlanta would need New  York to falter at the foul line, but the Liberty hit all 10 of their free throw attempts in the final two minutes to secure the victory.

Angel McCoughtry led all Dream scorers with 17 points but shot 4-for-16 for the game.  Atlanta only shot 29.7 percent against the Liberty.  Brittany Boyd scored 18 points from the bench for New York and Tina Charles finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds despite 5-for-20 shooting.

Michael Cooper on the previous victory against Chicago leading into Sunday’s game:  “You would think that that would catapult us to play a lot better than we did. So I’m amazed and surprised that we didn’t come back with much effort.”

Bill Laimbeer on the game’s intensity:  ““We knew it was an intense game, all the incidents that were going on, ejections, technical fouls. We just had to keep our composure and that’s what we talked about. We’re a young team and especially when we lose Tanisha, who’s our steady rock, but Brittany Boyd came through and played really well.”

WNBA Tidbits:

* San Antonio has started the season 0-6, beating the record for worst franchise start of the season set in 2005.

* Los Angeles’s 0-4 is the first time that the Sparks have ever started the season with four losses.

* Connecticut traveled to Phoenix on Friday night and won 90-78 in double overtime, snapping a 22-game home winning streak for the Mercury.

Atlanta Dream info: 

* According to Michael Cooper on Sunday, Erika de Souza has been having a problem with physical players.  Cooper is trying to help de Souza work on the problem.

* As for Cierra Burdick, one of the reasons that Cooper likes her is that she’s a rebounder.  As Cooper said, “No rebounds, no rings.”

This week’s games:

Wednesday, June 24 at 12:30 pm:   Atlanta Dream @ Chicago Sky, Rosemont Arena

(Atlanta leads season series 1-0)

A rematch with the Sky, this time during Chicago’s Kids Day.  Chicago’s main goal will be not to come out as dead as they did on Friday evening.  It was only personal fouls and free throw shooting that kept Chicago in that game.

Both Elena Delle Donne and Courtney Vandersloot remarked after the game on Friday that Chicago can’t start games slow.  Undoubtedly, Pokey Chatman will want to “quick strike” and attempt to make those first five minutes of each half count.  Clarissa Dos Santos will probably start at center, there doesn’t seem to be any temptation for Chatman to move Delle Donne into the five spot.

Michael Cooper said on Friday that he wanted that game to be physical.  There’s always a danger in that, and it showed in the Dream’s win as Chicago is the best free throw-shooting team in the WNBA and Elena Delle Donne is one of the league’s best free throw shooters.  Atlanta “held” Delle Donne to 26 points on Friday; they’ll need a similar defensive performance on Wednesday afternoon to have a chance of stealing one on the road.

Friday, June 26 at 7:30 pm:  Washington Mystics @ Atlanta Dream, Philips Arena

(Atlanta leads season series 1-0)

After the Dream stole a game on the road against the Mystics, Washington hopes to return the favor on Friday.  The player to watch on the Mystics is Emma Meesseman.  This is the third season for the 6-4 center from Belgium and she seems to be getting better every year, leading the Mystics with 14.2 ppg.  In the game against Atlanta, Meesseman had 21 points and 9 rebounds and the matchup between Meesseman and de Souza will have a big role in deciding the winner of that game.

The Mystics can move the ball.  Kara Lawson leads Washington with 3.8 assists per game, and rookie Natasha Cloud has 3.2 assists per game despite averaging just 17 minutes a game.  Washington is first in the league both in assists and assists/TO ratio – remarkable for such a young team.

Atlanta, meanwhile, is at the bottom of the league in turnovers.  It’s a problem for a team that likes to run the ball; Michael Cooper is hoping that with risk comes reward.  Washington might try to use their young legs and try to outrun the Dream, but Atlanta has nine days off after Friday, not playing again until July 5^th.  That should give the Dream motivation to provide some extra oomph.

Power Rankings:

1. Tulsa Shock (6-1): A 6-1 start is the Shock’s best start ever in Tulsa.  Considering the absence of Sims and Johnson in the win against the Lynx is even more impressive.
2. Chicago Sky (3-3): The Sky is murderous on the free throw line.  You might not be impressed with 3-3, but the Sky has played five out of six of those games on the road.
3. Connecticut Sun (6-1): Wherever they finish, it probably won’t be last.  Could be between Fred Williams (Tulsa) and Anne Donovan for WNBA Coach of the Year.
4. Minnesota Lynx (5-2): Fans were filing out early when the Shock beat the Lynx at home.   Looking up at the Shock is not something the Lynx (or anyone else) are used to.
5. Washington Mystics (4-2): Shouldn’t be ashamed of a four point loss to Tulsa on the road.  Young teams win those games in years to come.
6. Phoenix Mercury (3-3): Lost to the Lynx and to the Sun by double-digits.  Even if Griner were there, would Phoenix have won those games?
7. New York Liberty (4-3): New York’s Sunday game against Atlanta shows that Bill Laimbeer finally has a Liberty team that reflects his personality.
8. Indiana Fever (3-5): Indiana is a see-saw team, capable of winning big and losing big.  By season’s end, the Fever could be feet in the air or sitting on the ground.
9. Atlanta Dream (3-5): All three of Atlanta’s wins have been by three points or less – including one against the Stars.  Waiting for Tiffany Hayes and Aneika Henry to get back from Azerbaijan.
10. Seattle Storm (2-4): Had a good chance of beating visiting Phoenix on Sunday; watched it slip away.
11. San Antonio Stars (0-6): I felt the same way when I was young and away from home.  At some time in their lives, everyone feels like 0-and-6.
12. Los Angeles Sparks (0-4): Leading contenders for the Stewie Sweepstakes, but does that change when their scorers come back?