Chicago Sky Advances, Ends Atlanta Dream’s Return to WNBA Finals

Elena Delle Donne basket -with 8.2 seconds left – gave the Chicago Sky a 81-80 victory over the Atlanta Dream. The Sky will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Dream 2-1 in the conference semifinals. Delle Donne scored a game-high 34 points and was the only member of the Sky to make a three-pointer. Elena made 3 out of 5 three-pointers and the Sky combined to make 3 out of 17 three-pointers. Tamera Young had 16 points and 5 assists for the Sky. Sylvia Fowles had 13 points, game-high 15 boards and game-high 4 steals for the Sky.

Erika De Souza had her best game of the series with a team-high 18 points to go along with 7 rebounds for the Dream. Angel McCoughtry had 17 points, 8 assists and team-high 3 steals for the Dream, after coming off a career-high 39 points in game two. Angel made a disappointing 5 out of 18 shots from the field and missed the final shot of the game to give the Dream the win. Tiffany Hayes and Sancho Lyttle each had 14 points for the Dream, Lyttle had a team-high 13 points. Jasmine Thomas had 11 points for the Dream and all the starters scored in double-figures. The Dream had home-court advantage throughout the East playoffs, lost both home games in the series and neither team had a victory at home.

The Sky will face the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference Finals and this was the Sky’s first time winning a playoff series in franchise history. The Sky ended the Dream chance of possibly playing in back-to-back WNBA Finals. The Dream had previously won three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals. This was head coach Michael Cooper‘s first year as the Dream coach, the Dream started off the season as one of the hottest teams in the league and Cooper previously led the Los Angeles Sparks to two championships. Cooper does bring championship experience to the Dream. The Dream has been to three WNBA Finals in their six year history and has yet to win a game in the Finals being swept every year.

The Dream have the players and the coach to win a WNBA championship. They need to improve their starting point guard position and Shoni Schimmel should be handed the keys to the position. This defeat will motivate the Dream and McCoughtry to come back next year stronger and better. Schimmel definitely will improve and Hayes should continue to improve next season also. Hopefully next season the Dream winning a championship turns into a reality and bring the city of Atlanta its first WNBA championship.

Photo Credit: WNBA.com