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Shock-Dream Preview

Jun 25, 2009 - 7:27 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Detroit (1-4) at Atlanta (3-4), 7:30 p.m. EDT

Detroit's Rick Mahorn can no longer turn to Plenette Pierson to give his starters a break. With one of the WNBA's top bench players out for the season, his Shock will face an Atlanta Dream squad that may have relied too heavily on its reserves in its last game.

The Shock look to snap a three-game losing streak Friday night when they face a Dream club that dropped its last contest amid a controversial coaching decision.

Atlanta (3-4) has lost two straight after winnings its previous two. On Tuesday, coach Marynell Meadors decided to keep star forward Chamique Holdsclaw on the bench for the entire fourth quarter of a 99-98 overtime home defeat to Chicago.

Meadors opted to go with reserves Jennifer Lacy and Tamera Young rather than reinsert Holdsclaw, who is averaging 13.4 points on the season.

"They brought the energy we needed," Meadors said of Lacy and Young. "We want to play fast out there, but we just didn't have that type of energy beforehand. The effort we got in the last quarter and overtime is what we need for all quarters."

Holdsclaw finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Lacy and Young combined for 20.

Pierson has been one of the league's best off the bench in recent years, but defending champion Detroit (1-4) announced Wednesday she had been lost for the season following shoulder surgery. The veteran forward was injured in the Shock's season-opening loss to Los Angeles on June 8.

The WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year in 2007, Pierson averaged a career-best 11.9 points and 1.2 blocks last season. She was a key member of the 2006 and '08 Shock champion teams.

Detroit, off to its worst start since opening 2002 with 13 losses, may have a tough time bouncing back without one of its leaders.

"We just have to try to stay together in this locker room and keep our focus," Mahorn said.

The Shock's latest loss was particularly deflating, as they blew a 17-point second-half lead in an 82-70 defeat to Indiana on Sunday.

Deanna Nolan had a game-high 16 points for Detroit. She leads the Shock with 16.4 points and 3.4 assists a game.

Atlanta has four players averaging double digits in scoring and is paced by Sancho Lyttle, with 15.0 points per game.

Lyttle's 18 points, though, weren't enough to help the Dream overcome the Sky. Atlanta also wasted an outstanding performance from rookie Angel McCoughtry, who had 26 points and eight assists.

"I was able to get free because our big players opened it up for me," said McCoughtry, the top pick in the 2009 draft. "I was able to get it going. But at the end of the day, we lost."

McCoughtry added two steals and a block while shooting 9 for 16.

"She finally starting to get our system and understand how to play as a professional," Meadors said.

This will be McCoughtry's first game against Detroit, which is 3-0 all-time against Atlanta.