A postgame wish and an injury may have propelled the Dream into the Eastern Conference finals, which begin Thursday night against Indiana at Philips Arena.
After the Dream were blasted by Washington in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Angel McCoughtry said that everyone on the team, including herself, needed to play with more desire if they hoped to win the team’s first WNBA championship.
The Dream responded by winning the next two games with impressive performances to advance to the conference finals for the third time in four years.
“The first game we came out flat; there was no sense of urgency,” said McCoughtry, who was the league’s leading scorer during the regular season (21.5 points per game). “We came together and stayed together. Everyone played with so much heart, so much desire, and that’s what it takes to win championships.”
Part of that turnaround can be attributed to a more energetic effort from everyone, including reserves Alex Bentley, who scored five points in the third game, and Armintie Herrington, who added 14.
And part of it can be attributed to winning the rebounding battle, which coaches will point to as a sign of energy and is something that didn’t happen in the first game. After being outrebounded by 12 in the 71-56 loss in Game 1, the Dream bounced back to outrebound the Mystics by 38 in the next two games.
The turnaround coincided with the inclusion of 6-foot-4 center Aneika Henry into the starting lineup in place of 6-0 Le’Coe Willingham, who suffered a minor knee injury after the first game that prevented her from playing in the next two. She is expected to return against Indiana.
Henry posted her first career double-double in the second game, with 10 points and 12 rebounds in her second start this season. She added six points and 10 rebounds in the decisive third game.
Coach Fred Williams said Henry, a second-year player, likely will make her third start Thursday. The Fever outrebounded Chicago by an average of 9.5 rebounds in their two-game sweep.
“They are so good on the boards against us in the past year, it’s something we have to continue to work on and get better at,” Williams said.
Henry’s ability to hit midrange jumpers, which usually pulls the other team’s center or power forward to the free-throw line to defend her, has freed de Souza inside from double-teams and created space for her to go after rebounds.
In the past two games, de Souza averaged 14.5 points and 14.5 rebounds after she averaged 12.9 points and 9.9 during the regular season.
Indiana will present a different challenge. Though the Dream won the season series 3-1, the Fever are hot after knocking off top-seed Chicago in the semifinals. Five players have averaged at least 11 points in the playoffs, led by Shavonte Zellous (15 points per game).
The matchup most will watch is McCoughtry against Indiana’s Tamika Catchings. Both were named to the All-WNBA second team Wednesday because both can defend and score. McCoughtry has averaged 17.7 points in the playoffs. Catchings has averaged 14.5 points. Because they are the focus of the opponents’ game plan, neither shot well in her first playoff series. Catchings made 38.5 percent of her attempts while McCoughtry made 25.8 percent.
If Indiana’s defense focuses on McCoughtry, it may be free chances for de Souza, Henry and the rest of the Dream to continue what they’ve done in the past two games.
“Every night, I tell players it’s going to be one or two players who step up in different ways,” Williams said. “I don’t know where it will come from. Erika has been really consistent. If one or two players will step up…”
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