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Dream-Storm Preview

Aug 28, 2009 - 7:54 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Atlanta (15-13) at Seattle (17-11), 10:00 p.m. EDT

The Atlanta Dream ended their inaugural season, the worst in league history, with a road loss to the Seattle Storm.

When the second-year Dream return to Seattle on Saturday night, they'll be looking to move a step closer to a playoff berth.

Atlanta concluded a 4-30 season with a 77-72 defeat at KeyArena on Sept. 12, but the Dream have made considerable progress since then.

At 15-13, Atlanta is in second place in the Eastern Conference, locked in a tight race for the final three postseason spots with Connecticut, Detroit, Washington and Chicago. The Dream will be playing the second game of a five-game road trip, and five of their final six games are away from home - four straight against West teams.

After an 8-2 stretch, Atlanta began its trip with a 87-83 loss to Detroit on Thursday night and dropped to 4-8 on the road.

The Dream were again without star forward Chamique Holdsclaw, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on her right knee earlier this week. Holdsclaw is day to day and is expected to miss "a few games," according to coach Marynell Meadors.

"Looking down the road, we have a great chance of making the playoffs," Meadors said. "We want to make sure she's healthy. As soon as she's ready we'll fly her to wherever we are."

Holdsclaw led the team with 13.9 points per game when she was injured, but her teammates have stepped up to fill the offensive void. Iziane Castro Marques averaged 25.0 points - 11.0 more than her season average - in the three games without Holdsclaw, while Angel McCoughtry has scored 23.3 points per game in the last four contests.

McCoughtry, the league's top-scoring rookie, is averaging 12.3 points this season.

They were among four Dream players to score in double figures in an 88-79 home win over the Storm on Aug. 15. Sancho Lyttle's team-leading 20 points in that game matched a season high.

Atlanta, though, now faces a Seattle team that has won a season-high four straight and has the best home record in the West at 12-3.

The Storm (17-11) clinched their sixth consecutive trip to the postseason with an 86-74 home win over Connecticut on Thursday night. Sue Bird had a team-best 21 points as each Seattle starter scored in double figures.

Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson added 17 apiece as the Storm won their fourth in a row at KeyArena - one shy of tying their season high.

The Storm are two games behind first-place Phoenix and three ahead of Los Angeles.

"It's still just making the playoffs," Bird said. "Three other teams are going to do it in our conference. Now that we're in, we want to get good position."

Jackson, second in the WNBA with 19.2 points per game, scored a team-leading 25 in the Aug. 15 loss to the Dream.