It became clear in the furious opening minutes how the Dream planned to even their Eastern Conference series with Indiana.
Force turnovers, scrap for rebounds and run, run, run for scores so they didn't have to deal with the Fever's s looming size in the half court.
“Not many teams can keep up with us when we are aggressive and fast,” Dream guard Iziane Castro Marques said after the 94-77 victory at Philips Arena. “And we are young, so we can do that the whole day.”
Indiana is the bigger, more veteran team but Atlanta negated that with an energetic effort boosted by a rowdy home crowd. The Dream can advance to the WNBA finals for the second consecutive season with a victory in Game 3 on Tuesday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
“This is why we won the Eastern Conference [top seed], so we can have home-court advantage,” Fever coach Lin Dunn said. “We knew it wouldn't be easy. Now we will regroup.”
The Fever answered Atlanta's frenzied start in Game 2 with a stretch of hot shooting but eventually looked worn down by the pace. Indiana tried to run post-up plays but Atlanta kept disrupting the entry passes and turned loose balls into layups at the other end.
The Dream had a 25-11 advantage in fast-break points.
“At times we made bad decisions and got them into their run game,” Dunn said. “And we settled for outside shots. They love to run on those long rebounds.”
The Fever boast a handful of tall, skilled and athletic wing players but the best, league MVP Tamika Catchings, is questionable to play. She suffered a right foot injury in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and had to be helped off the floor.
The Fever said they had no update on Catchings' injury on Monday.
“We will prepare for her to be on the court,” Dream coach Marynell Meadors said. “I know Tamika is a tough, tough player and if there is any way possible she will be on the court.”
The Dream will again be without center Erika de Souza, who left the team before Game 2 to play for the Brazilian national team in an Olympic qualifying tournament. The Dream used a small lineup featuring Castro Marques, who poured in a playoff career-high 30 points.
Castro Marques was an All-Star in 2010 but played in a reserve role for most of this season and hadn't scored more than 19 points all season. Meadors said Castro Marques has been bothered by a sore Achilles' tendon.
“I knew how dangerous she could be,” Indiana forward Katie Douglas said. “She's probably their second-quickest player on the team and she's explosive. But I don't think we did a good job of scouting her. I know we will do a better job on Tuesday.”
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