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May 20, 2010 - 6:53 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Connecticut (1-0) at Atlanta (2-0), 7:00 p.m. EDT

A win over Connecticut late last season cemented the Atlanta Dream's transformation from expansion doormat into a playoff team.

It also prevented the Sun from a seventh straight trip to the postseason.

The Eastern Conference foes meet for the first time this year as the Dream look to continue the best start in franchise history Friday night at Philips Arena.

Atlanta beat Connecticut 88-64 on Sept. 11 to qualify for the playoffs for the first time while the Sun missed out due to tiebreakers. The Dream's postseason berth came after finishing a league-worst 4-30 in 2008.

Already off to its best start, Atlanta (2-0) needs to beat the Sun to match the franchise record for longest winning streak set from Aug. 13-20.

The Dream moved a step closer to that equaling that Sunday when they posted a 66-62 victory over Indiana, which swept them in the playoffs. Atlanta shot just 33.3 percent, but held the Fever to four points in the fourth quarter.

"Defense wins game and that's what happened," said guard-forward Armintie Price, who had 14 points and four rebounds.

The Dream's early success in 2010 has come without Chamique Holdsclaw, who was released Wednesday after requesting a trade in training camp. Despite knee problems, Holdsclaw was the club's second-leading scorer in 2009 with an average of 13.9 points as Atlanta won 18 games.

Forward Angel McCoughtry and center Erika de Souza are filling that gap.

McCoughtry, last season's top overall draft pick, and the 2009 WNBA rookie of the year, is averaging a team-high 15.5 points. De Souza is scoring 12.5 points, and ranks among the league leaders with 13.0 rebounds.

They came up big in the most recent meeting with the Sun. McCoughtry had 18 points with six rebounds and six steals, and De Souza scored 15 with 14 rebounds.

While perhaps looking for some revenge, the Sun will try to stay unbeaten after a season-opening 74-61 win over Chicago on Saturday. Tina Charles - selected first overall in last month's draft after winning national player of the year honors at UConn - had 17 points and 10 rebounds in her professional debut.

Anete Jekabsone-Zogota led Connecticut with 18 points, and Kara Lawson added 10 in her first game with the Sun after seven seasons with now-defunct Sacramento.

"Everyone was playing," Laswon said. "Everyone was hitting shots. We don't have any selfishness on this team. It was a lot of fun."

The Dream took three of four from the Sun last year, including both meetings in Atlanta.