Dream 1 win away from unlikely spot in WNBA finals

ATLANTA (AP) - The Atlanta Dream made WNBA history for the most losses in a season only two years ago.

Now comes a shot at a record to brag about: The Dream are one win away from becoming the first expansion team to reach the WNBA finals in its third season.

The Dream will try to complete a two-game sweep of the New York Liberty in the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night. Seattle awaits the Atlanta-New York winner in the WNBA finals.

Atlanta finished 4-30 in its inaugural 2008 season. The Dream improved to 18-16 last season and lost to Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.

Even Atlanta's players are caught off-guard by this year's playoff run.

“At the start of the year I was wondering how good we could be and I had no thoughts we could be a champion,” forward Iziane Castro Marques said after Monday's practice.

The expectations changed after the Dream opened the season with six straight wins.

“After that 6-0 run, I thought 'There we go. We can do this,”' Castro Marques said. “I definitely changed my perspective after that run and saw that we could beat any team in this league. We proved that.”

Atlanta has taken opening road wins in each playoff series this year. The Dream won two straight over Washington in the first round of the playoffs before winning at New York 81-75 on Sunday.

The Dream struggled at the end of the regular season, losing six of its last seven for a 19-15 record and No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Dream suddenly found its early season form just in time for the postseason.

Even coach and general manager Marynell Meadors is surprised.

“To do this in our third year, no it doesn't happen in professional sports where you have a third-year expansion team make it this far,” Meadors said.

Atlanta is winning with its running game. Meadors has sought up-tempo players and found a finisher for the fast-break points in second-year star Angel McCoughtry.

McCoughtry has scored more than 20 points in each of the team's three playoff wins after averaging 21.1 points in the regular season.

McCoughtry, a 6-foot-1 forward, has emerged as the team's star after being named WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2009.

“When I was putting this thing together, I knew that we had to have a running team,” Meadors said.

“I like to coach a fast team. I like the running game. I had to make sure we had players who could do that. It has worked out so well and we've been very fortunate to pick up some good players through free agency and the draft.”

Sancho Lyttle, a 6-foot-4 forward, has had two straight double-doubles in the playoffs. Lyttle, a two-time All-Star, came to Atlanta last year after the Houston franchise folded following the 2008 season.

Castro Marques has averaged 16.9 points.

While McCoughtry is the team's biggest star, Meadors said the team's strength is its depth. Meadors keeps fresh players on the floor to maintain an up-tempo pace.

“If we have 11 players, we try to get all 11 in the game,” Meadors said. “They all know they're going to get in the game. It depends on them how long they stay.”

The Dream's home is Philips Arena, also the home of the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers. Due to a scheduling conflict, the Dream's home games in the WNBA finals would be at the Gwinnett Arena in Duluth, near Atlanta. The Dream played their home playoff game last year in Duluth.