2008/6 - Sky 86, Dream 72

This is Part Three of a three-part post regarding the game at Philips Arena on Friday....

Ugh. What a horrible game. After we seemed to be making so much progress. The Lynx only escaped us by four points, Sylvia Fowles was out as center, and it looked like the Dream had a very good chance of stealing this game. Instead, it turned into a 86-72 loss.

The Sky only hit 64 percent from the free throw line, but more than made up for it by hitting 48.3 percent from the field. Once again, the Dream shot less than 40 percent from the field, and when you shoot less than 40 percent, you lose. It's just that simple.

Supposedly, this would be a contest between Kia Perkins and Betty Lennox at the forward position. Lennox shot an atypical 14 points. Perkis shot 16, so I suppose we know who won that battle. Ivory Latta outshot her with a career high 17 points. Marynell Meadors said it was the Dream's worst effort at home this year.

The Dream managed to stay with the Sky for three quarters, but I never got the impression from watching the game that the Sky seemed particulary troubled. They then went on a 11-1 point run to close out the third, and from that moment you could write the Dream off.

It was an ugly looking game from both sides, hardly a showcase of WNBA basketball. Jennifer Lacy scored a grand total of four points in 18 minutes of play. Katie Feenstra got eight points, but she looked immobile. Meadors only gave Feenstra 10 minutes in the game. In terms of plus/minus, Lovelace was the better Center of the Day, Lovelace was +3 to Feenstra's -5. (And Lacy's +/-? Minus 17, worst in the game.)

There's a couple of interest stats that tell what I saw in the second half:

Points in the paint: Chicago 40, Atlanta 22
Fast break points: Chicago 25, Atlanta 10

Chicago gets rebound, runs down to their end of the court, and makes an uncontested shot right at the hoop. I must have seen this five or six times last night.

The Dream, at least, looked interested. They didn't seem to have gone into the tank - with even a few seconds on the clock, they seemed to be fighting. It just wasn't enough.

And as it turned out, this was just the beginning of their troubles with the Sky, as they traveled to Chicago to take on the Sky on Saturday night....