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Storm-Dream Preview

Aug 14, 2009 - 5:50 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Seattle (13-10) at Atlanta (12-11), 7:00 p.m. EDT

If the Atlanta Dream want to rebound from the worst season in WNBA history with a playoff appearance, they may need to keep piling up wins now.

In the midst of a six-game homestand before a difficult stretch to close the season, the Dream will try to win for the sixth time in seven games when they face the Seattle Storm on Saturday.

Atlanta (12-11) closes its regular season by playing six of seven on the road, where they are 4-7 this season, so the Dream will be trying to bolster their position in the standings while playing their next four at home - all against Western Conference foes.

"We can make a move with the next few games at home," guard Iziane Castro Marques said.

Following a 4-30 inaugural season last year, Atlanta is currently in playoff position but remains in a tight East race with several teams for one of the four available postseason spots.

The Dream have certainly helped their cause lately, averaging more than 90 points in their last six games while going 5-1. They beat Detroit 80-75 on Thursday, propelled by Marques' 15 points and Erika DeSouza's 15 points and 13 rebounds.

"It's all about us continuing to play hard," DeSouza said, using Marques as a translator. "We got to keep playing hard. If we do, then everything will fall into place."

The two Brazilians are among the few mainstays from last year's team, with the Dream bolstering their lineup with the acquisitions of Chamique Holdsclaw and Sancho Lyttle.

Rookie Angel McCoughtry also has contributed, scoring 11 points against the Shock - her sixth straight game in double digits.

Not as much has changed for Seattle, which continues to be anchored by Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird, but the Storm (13-10) struggled offensively in the opener of their three-game road trip Thursday.

Bird and Jackson combined to shoot 8 for 28 (28.6 percent) in a 64-53 loss to Connecticut, the team's third defeat in its last four overall and third consecutive road loss.

"These things tend to be a domino effect," Bird said. "One bad thing happens, then the next, and then you feel like you can't do anything right collectively. We really need to look at ourselves in the mirror as a team and address those things."

Despite its recent problems, Seattle remains in second place in the West, in part because all of its pursuers are stumbling.

This will be the first meeting between the teams this year after the Storm won both games against Atlanta last season without Jackson, including an 83-69 win at Philips Arena on Sept. 2 as Bird had 21 points and nine assists.