It started before the opening jump ball, when the Dream's Iziane Castro Marques jostled for position around the center circle with Indiana's Tamika Catchings, the league's MVP.
Castro Marques and the Dream weren't willing to concede an inch the to the Fever, who were looking to sweep the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals series.
Eventually the ball tipped and the Dream quickly overwhelmed the Fever for a 94-77 victory at Philips Arena. Game 3 is Tuesday at Indiana.
Atlanta won handily without starting center Erika de Souza, who left to play for the Brazilian national team in an Olympic qualifying tournament in Colombia. Her fellow Brazilian, Castro Marques, opted to stay with the Dream.
She made the most of it. Castro Marques erupted for a career-playoff high 30 points, including nine during an 11-2 third-quarter run to turn back the Fever after they'd rallied within 55-53.
“Maybe she should have gone with the Brazilian national team,” Indiana forward Katie Douglas joked. “Can we get her a call-up?”
Without de Souza the Dream was at a significant size disadvantage. Dream coach Marynell Meadors decided to counter with a small lineup featuring Castro Marques at forward.
The move worked as 14 of the Dream's first 28 points came by way of fast breaks. Castro Marques constantly attacked Indiana's taller defenders while making 13 of 22 shots.
“I couldn't ask for anyone to step in and play any better,” Meadors said. “It was an awesome performance. She was the ‘X' factor for us. She kept us going. She hit shot after shot after shot.”
At the same time Castro Marques boosted the Dream, All-Star forward Angel McCoughtry broke out of her postseason funk. She had 27 points and shot 11 of 23 from the field after scoring a total of 39 points and shooting 31 percent in three previous playoff games.
McCoughtry scored 13 points in the first quarter.
“I thought the big difference was that Angel was really focused,” Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. “She didn't lose her poise and composure. She did a really good job of setting the tone early. She was very aggressive offensively. She got them on a good roll early.”
The Dream raced out to a 6-0 lead and were ahead 34-23 late in the first quarter. Douglas made all three of her 3-point attempts in the second quarter to help Indiana close within 55-51 at halftime.
Castro Marques helped break the game open. She scored on a running jumper, a drive to the basket, a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup as Atlanta pushed its lead to 66-55.
“I was very focused,” she said. “I knew the importance to step up in the lineup. Once I hit a couple shots I got into it and that's when I knew, ‘Oh, it's my night.'”
The Dream led by double digits over the final 9:49.
“I thought Atlanta did a good job of protecting their home court,” Dunn said. “We knew they were not going to lay down and come out with energy and intensity and really rally behind not having [de Souza].”
Catchings, the league MVP, suffered a right foot injury in the fourth quarter and had to be carried to the locker room. Dunn said she wasn't sure of the prognosis but added that Catchings didn't aggravate her surgically-repaired Achilles' heel.
About the Author
