Dream, Mystics each bring strong form into season rubber match

The Atlanta Dream and the Washington Mystics have both surged into strong position to make the playoffs two-thirds of the way through the regular season.

Now both teams are trying to improve their seeding as they prepare to meet Friday night in Washington.

The Dream (19-11) had won five games in a row before taking a 22-point loss to Las Vegas on Monday night. They bounced back strong two nights later by beating the visiting Phoenix Mercury 96-82.

It looked like the Mystics (17-12) might see their four-game winning streak end when they fell behind the visiting Dallas Wings by 20 points in the third quarter on Wednesday, but they roared back for a 96-92 win.

"I think we've grown a lot from the reps that we've gotten," Washington head coach Sydney Johnson said. "A lot of close games. We've won some, we've lost some. We've learned a lot. Now (we understand) how we have to play to win games."

The Mystics understood that they had to play much better defense in the second half after trailing 59-44 at halftime. They outscored Dallas 52-33 in the second half, including 24-12 in the fourth quarter.

"There are these moments where you have to gut things out," Johnson said, "and I think we're showing a lot of that and that's because of the connection that we have with each other."

The Dream used a group effort to defeat the Mercury as all five starters scored in double figures and they had 29 assists on 33 made field goals.

"It's probably the best ball movement we've had in a long time," Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko said.

Rhyne Howard led the way with game-highs of 23 points and eight assists, and Jordin Canada's four assists enabled her to set a franchise season record with 227 assists. The ball movement led to better 3-point opportunities, and Atlanta took advantage by making 14 of 33 (42.4%) after making 4 of 24 (16.7%) in the loss to the Aces.

"Everything was working well," Howard said.

This game will decide the season series as both teams have won a meeting on their home court.

--Field Level Media