With Washington’s 76-72 overtime victory over Indiana at home on Tuesday night, the Mystics clinched the final playoff spot in the East.  Even though Atlanta was eliminated from playoff contention, they still had three games to play and the addition of a new player kept it all interesting.  I’ll review those games and provide my final Power Rankings of the 2015 season.

 

Carla Cortijo

The Dream had attempted to acquire Carla Cortijo previously in the 2015 season.  Cortijo is from Puerto Rico and played at the University of Texas from 2005 through 2008 as a point guard.  She plays for the Puerto Rico national team and the Dream had attempted to acquire her previously, but was initially denied release from the national team.  With Roneeka Hodges declared out for the remainder of the season and with DeLisha Milton-Jones recovering from a concussion, the Dream added Cortijo to the roster after receiving a hardship waiver.

 

Atlanta Dream 90, Los Angeles 60

Before Cortijo could join the Dream, Atlanta still had a game left against the Sparks.  With McCoughtry coming off the bench again, the Sparks brought a lineup of Farhiya Abdi, Jantel Lavender, Jennifer Hamson, Crystal Bradford and Kristi Toliver, with no Candace Parker in sight.  Neither team shot well at the beginning, with Lavender providing the first six points for the Sparks and only Hamson contributing on the defensive end with a couple of early blocks.  McCoughtry picked up 15 points in the first quarter and the Dream was clearly playing the Sparks team that showed up in the first half of the 2015 season as they led 26-11 after ten minutes.

Each team played with a lack of shooting discipline to start the second quarter, looking to pull the trigger early in the shot clock.  The baskets didn’t fall, but the draught affected both teams and Atlanta kept its double-digit lead.   It was a matter of which team could make the fewest unforced errors.  The Dream only shot 36.4 percent in the first half but Los Angeles was even less impressive and a transition steal and drive by McCoughtry at the last second would have put the Dream up by 20 but was wiped out by the referee’s call as time expired.  Atlanta took a commanding 44-25 lead into the break as McCoughtry had 18 in the first half.

Atlanta boosted their lead to above 20 in the third quarter but it wasn’t so much by either team shooting well as it was each team throwing the ball at the basket and hoping for two points.  The Sparks shooting percentage dipped below 30 percent at one point and a three pointer by Schimmel put Atlanta up 51-26.  It wasn’t the best executed game by either team but the Dream couldn’t argue with the score as they took a 66-40 lead into the final period.

The refs sat on their whistles in the fourth as both sides wanted the game to be over.  A drive by Sancho Lyttle put the Dream up by 30 points with 7:38 to go, and that turned out to be the final margin of victory.  Los Angeles didn’t come to play on Wednesday night, but Atlanta did in their biggest win of the 2015 season.

All active players on the Dream roster saw at least 10 minutes of playing time and none saw more than thirty.  Angel McCoughtry led all scorers with 23 points off the bench.  Two Dream players finished with double-doubles – Lyttle with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Damiris Dantas with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Lavender led all Sparks scorers with 14 points.  Hamson had seven total points but was a horrible 1-for-7 from the free throw line.

The victory was head coach Michael Cooper’s 200^th win in the WNBA.  He is currently fifth in all-time victories in WNBA history.

Cooper on the Sparks sitting out major players:  “Right now, I kind of figured that but were not having any mercy on anyone. It has been tough for us all season long. We have Indiana coming in here on Friday and they can sit whoever they want; we are going to give it our Atlanta Dream best effort.”

Agler on sitting out his best players:  “We wanted to get out of here with no injuries and we were able to accomplish that. We wanted to give some of our younger players some valuable playing time which we also accomplished that. Our main focus is to prepare for the playoffs, so playing some of people that get heavy minutes during the normal season would not be advantageous for us we need to stay as fresh as possible.”

Indiana Fever 75, Atlanta Dream 67

 It was another game where the opposing team held out a player for safety’s sake, in this case Tamika Catchings.  The Dream got on the board first and Indiana’s man-to-man defense didn’t seem to give Atlanta much problem as players like Hayes could find their way to the basket.  Indiana was kept afloat by Shenise Johnson’s scoring – she scored three straight baskets for the Fever over a minute point – and the visitors patiently waited for Atlanta to cool down.   McCoughtry came off bench to score four points over the last four minutes of the first period as Atlanta led 23-17 at the first break.

Indiana continued to work on Atlanta, scoring five straight to start the second and close the gap to 23-22.   Unforced errors began to take their toll on the Dream and with 5:43 left in the half they held on by one point, 27-26.  Jeanette Pohlen hit a 3-pointer and Marissa Coleman followed it up with a shot just within the arc to put Indiana ahead 33-30 and forcing Cooper to call another time out with 3:00 to go.  McCoughtry picked up an offensive foul and Cooper received a technical shortly after as the Dream kept struggling.

Carla Cortijo was called from the bench with 1:00 left in the half.  McCoughtry tied the game with a triple, but Indiana answered right back with a triple from Johnson as time expired.  The shot put Indiana ahead of Atlanta for the first time in field goal percentage and they took a 38-35 lead into halftime.  The Fever finished with 16 fast break points, stealing the Dream’s thunder.

Both teams went back and forth in the third quarter.   Shavonte Zellous and Lynette Kizer picked up their fourth fouls as the Fever clung to a 47-46 lead with 4:58 left in the period.  McCoughtry would also pick up her fourth foul as neither team could break free of the other.   The Dream were able to stop the Fever fast break, but Atlanta only hit three of its six final free throws of the quarter and Indiana led 53-51 with 10 minutes remaining.

With the game tied at 61-61 with 7:07 left, the game would belong to the first team that could find a run. Unfortunately, that team was the Fever as they scored the next ten points with Atlanta going 0-for-7 during the run.  Atlanta was down by ten with just 2:18 left in the game and a layup by Lyttle brought Atlanta back to 71-67 with 33 seconds left.   The Dream’s only hope was to send Indiana to the foul line to get the ball back, and Zellous and Johnson would hit their free throws to seal the win for the visitors.

Indiana had five players score in double figures, led by Zellous with 14 points off the bench.  Achonwa came close to a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

For Atlanta, Lyttle led all players with 19 points and eight rebounds.  McCoughtry scored 11 points from the bench and Cortijo saw 12 minutes of action, going 0-for-1 from the floor, hitting one of two free throws and getting one steal.

Dream assistant head coach Karleen Thompson on the Cortijo signing:  “We know that she is a good player, as you can see she just came right in and fit in.  She’s a very heady point guard, but for her to be able to come in and just be put out there like that and play she did a good job.”

Cortijo on being the first Puerto Rican-born WNBA player:  “It means a lot. Actually, the Puerto Rican girls just starting to play look up to me. It’s a good thing to Puerto Rico. It’s great!”

Fever head coach Stephanie White on the Dream’s defense:  “They are the best defensive team in the league, there’s no doubt about it. They are long, athletic, great participation skills, and they play good defense with their feet. They make everything difficult and there’s [no] question they have great athleticism and talent and I am just happy that we escaped out of here with a win. I am just ready for our team to continue to get better.”

Atlanta Dream 73, Washington Mystics 71

 The Dream presented a new starting lineup, with Reshanda Gray getting the start instead of Dantas.  It didn’t seem to help.  Hayes got caught as the last shooter on two Dream 24-second violations.  Washington scored two baskets with Schimmel trailing behind screens.  Henry had three first-quarter fouls, McCoughtry had two fouls and the Dream struggled to hit anything.  Atlanta had six turnovers in the first quarter, and even a fast break from McCoughtry in the last seconds couldn’t stop it from being the worst performance from the Dream over a quarter in the 2015 season, down 13-7 after ten minutes.

Cortijo would hit her first basket – a 3-pointer – in the second quarter, but Washington extended its lead and with 6:40 left in the first half Atlanta was down 22-10.   Hayes finally found the basket, but the Mystics extended their lead to 16 points on an and-one from Kia Vaughn.   Lyttle contributed four points to a 7-2 Dream late run to close the gap to 34-24 by the halftime break.  Atlanta shot 29 percent (9-for-31) over the first half and had 11 turnovers.

Washington kept their lead over the first half of the third quarter, but Atlanta worked at closing the gap.  Cortijo had a drive to the basket, her seventh point of the game.  McCoughtry followed with a jumper and Lyttle hit one of two free throws but the Dream got the putback on the missed free throw to close Washington’s lead to 46-43.  Schimmel hit a tough triple with a hand in her face and Cortijo followed it by a floating jumper and the Dream had tied it at 48-48 with 1:12 left in the third.  Atlanta had only one turnover in the third quarter, and only Kia Vaughn’s two free throws at the end of the period put the Mystics up 52-50.

Atlanta broke through for the first time in the fourth quarter with an alley-oop on an inbounds by McCoughtry to give the Dream its first lead, 56-55.  It was a one-possession game afterwards despite Gray being ejected on a flagrant two foul with 8:11 remaining.  But when Kia Vaughn tied up Aneika Henry on a jump ball, Henry hit one of two free throws to give the Dream its first four-point lead, 67-63, and with 1:41 left a drive by Lyttle extended the lead to 73-67.  The Dream would miss two of their following shots, but get their own rebounds and drive the clock down.  Tayler Hill made a 3-pointer with time expiring, but it wouldn’t be enough, giving the Dream their first win in the final game of the season since 2011.

McCoughtry led all scorers with 24 points.  Cortijo had 13 points in just her second appearance of the season and led the Dream in plus/minus at +9.  Lyttle put up an impressive line with 8 points/12 rebounds/4 steals.  The Dream had just one turnover in the second half compared to 11 in the first.

Ivory Latta led Washington with 14 points.  Kara Lawson, suffering from back problems, did not play.  Hill finished with 12 points and Vaughn added 11.

Michael Cooper on predicting the Eastern Conference playoffs:  “I don’t think you can pick a clear winner. I think Chicago, Indiana, Washington and New York are all good enough to win the championship depending on who comes out of the West. I think it’s going to be a dog fight. I would’ve loved to have been in the mix but we came up a little short and it shows you how good the East is this year.”

Thibault on Washington’s troubles against the Dream:  “This is a trend of playing Atlanta. I know that. It is more about who you play not the game. Indiana and Atlanta forced more turnovers than almost anybody. At halftime when we were winning all three categories, free throws, rebounds and turnovers, we got our butt kicked in the second half. I had already made up my mind that I had a minute limit on some of our players too. I decided to go with the group that was out there but our turnovers were just terrible. That led to a lot of points for them. Twenty-eight or thirty percent of their points came off of our turnovers.”

 

WNBA Tidbits

Minnesota’s 73-67 home victory over Seattle on Tuesday clinched the #1 playoff spot in the West for the Lynx.  One night later, New York’s 74-64 win over visiting Connecticut clinched home field advantage for the Liberty throughout the WNBA post-season.

On Friday, September 11 the Liberty would play their first home game on September 11^th since the terror attacks in 2001.  The visiting Mystics would win 82-55.

Atlanta’s win on Sunday gave them a 4-0 record against the Mystics in 2015.  It also clinched the #3 spot for Indiana, who beat the Liberty at home and it consigned Washington to the #4 spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

 

WNBA Power Rankings

 

1. Chicago Sky (21-13): Finished with the largest average margin of victory in the WNBA.  Elena Delle Donne will get the MVP this season.

 

2. Atlanta Dream (15-19): With the long road trip and the strength of the Eastern Conference, the undoubted winners of the Toughest Schedule award.  Played hard until the very end of the season and finished strong.

 

3. Phoenix Mercury (20-14): Probably off to another conference finals, and they did this without Taurasi OR Taylor. Imagine how good they’ll be next season.

 

4. Tulsa Shock (18-16): Won eight of their final 10 games.  Tulsa thanked the fans for their years of support during the final home game on Sunday against visiting Phoenix.  Shock will come back home at least one more time, which might be the last time.

 

5. Indiana Fever (20-14): How many rookie coaches win 20 games their first season?  Then again, Lin Dunn left a lot for Stephanie White to work with.

 

6. Los Angeles Sparks (14-20): A strong push at the end of the season puts Los Angeles in good shape, but Parker will have to step up big to beat Minnesota.

 

7. Washington Mystics (18-16): Last team in the WNBA to secure a playoff spot.  They’ll have to pray for Kara Lawson’s back to get better.

 

8. New York Liberty (23-11): Mike DiMauro of theday.com has Laimbeer penciled in has his WNBA Coach of the Year.  Not a bad choice.

 

9. Minnesota Lynx (22-12): Let’s hope that the thrill of the playoffs will resuscitate this sleeping kitty.

 

10. Seattle Storm (10-24): At least they didn’t finish last.

 

11. Connecticut Sun (15-19): WNBA fans will be looking at Connecticut with much interest after the season.  Front office hoping for luck in lottery.

 

12. San Antonio Stars (8-26): Win by one point at Seattle in very last regular season game of WNBA season keeps Stars from being first team since 1998 Mystics to lose all of its road games.