For a while Tuesday night, it appeared the Dream’s loss in Game 1 just delayed what seems like an inevitable trip to the WNBA Eastern Conference finals.
It turned out the Sky didn’t feel the same way.
Chicago rallied from a 19-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Dream 81-80 at Philips Arena and win the best-of-three series. Star forward Elena Delle Donne’s driving score with 8.2 seconds left proved to be the game-winner when Dream forward Angel McCoughtry’s shot at the buzzer bounced multiple times on the rim before falling away.
“We had them on the ropes for three quarters of the game, but sometimes your great players can will you to win,” Dream coach Michael Cooper said.
The Sky advances to play No. 2 Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals, which also is best-of-three, beginning Saturday.
The Dream failed to advance to the East finals for what would have been the fourth time in five years. They made it to the WNBA finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013 but were swept 3-0 each year.
“We will come back bigger and stronger and better next year,” Cooper said. “Our goal still is to win a championship, and we will get that championship.”
Atlanta took control early against Chicago before faltering late. The Dream led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter, started the second half with a 6-0 run for a 60-41 advantage but couldn’t turn back back a furious rally led by Delle Donne.
“We stepped back too far and they just kept punching,” Dream forward Sancho Lyttle said.
Delle Donne scored 17 of her game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter. For the game she was 10-for-19 from the field and made all 11 of her free-throw attempts.
On the game-winning basket, Delle Donne dribbled on the left wing as the the shot clock ran down before getting a step on McCoughtry and elevating over her to make the shot.
“My teammates had the look in their eyes that they weren’t ready to go home,” Delle Donne said. “Coach trusted me and put the ball in my hands, and I just went from there.”
After scoring 39 points in Atlanta’s Game 2 victory at Chicago on Sunday, McCoughtry was held to 17 points on 5-for-18 shooting . In the final period McCoughtry scored two points and missed 7-of-8 field goal attempts.
The Dream appeared on their way to a breezy victory but they left Chicago an opening with some sloppy play and poor shot selection.
“We got away from what we were doing well,” Cooper said. “Our execution of our offense went out the window a little bit. We took some quick shots, some bad shots. When that happens it rolls over into the other areas and our defense got away from us.”
Atlanta led 67-49 late in the third quarter. Delle Donne led a spirited comeback in the fourth.
Following two missed free-throw attempts by Dream center Erika de Souza, Delle Donne made two free throws and a 3-pointer to tie the game at 74 with 3:33 left. De Souza answered with a basket and McCoughtry stole the ball from Delle Donne and ran down for a layup to put the Dream ahead 78-74 with 2:14 to play.
Chicago’s Sylvia Fowles made 1 of 2 free throws to cut the lead to 78-77 with 53.5 seconds to go but Atlanta’s Shoni Schimmel answered with a layup at 29.5 seconds. Delle Donne scored to get Chicago within 80-79 with 23.7 seconds remaining and Dream guard Jasmine Thomas missed two free throws with 16.2 seconds to play, leading to Delle Donne’s game-winning drive around McCoughtry.
The Dream started the game 5-for-8 from the field and 8-for-8 on free throws but led just 19-15 because the Sky effectively moved the ball for open shots and made them. The Dream finally ran off a 15-2 run when they tightened their defense and controlled the boards.
That spurt posted the Dream to a 34-17 early in the second quarter and they extended the advantage to 44-24 on de Souza’s baseline score. The Sky settled down after switching to a zone defense and cut the deficit to 54-41 at halftime.
“We always start the game plan knowing our game plan but we end the game not knowing the game plan,” Lyttle said. “I think that is our biggest challenge right now and hopefully next year we change that as a group. If one individual doesn’t follow the game plan then it affects everyone.”
