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Lynx-Dream Preview

Jun 30, 2010 - 6:22 PM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Minnesota (5-10) at Atlanta (12-4), 7:00 p.m. EDT

The Atlanta Dream remain atop the Eastern Conference as the season's midpoint approaches, and Philips Arena is fast becoming a venue WNBA teams don't want to visit.

The Dream look for a fifth consecutive home win as they play the fourth of six straight in Atlanta on Thursday night against the Minnesota Lynx.

In the midst of a rapid rise after going 4-30 in their inaugural season two years ago, the Dream (12-4) have won the first three games of their homestand against Tulsa, Los Angeles and Phoenix to solidify their position atop the East.

They've averaged 93.0 points during that winning streak, improving to 6-1 at home, and eight different players contributed at least eight points in a 94-88 victory over the reigning WNBA champion Mercury on Tuesday.

"It's the balance and depth," coach Marynell Meadors said. "I keep saying that game after game. If someone is not playing well or not producing, we have people waiting to have their chance."

Although their bench outscored the Mercury's reserves 47-8, the Dream continue to be led by second-year star Angel McCoughtry. The 2009 draft's No. 1 overall pick had 18 points against Phoenix and ranks fourth in the league with 20.4 per game.

Minnesota (5-10) is trying to make do without one of its stars. In their first game after guard Candice Wiggins suffered a season-ending Achilles' injury, the Lynx lost 80-66 at San Antonio on Saturday night.

That ended Minnesota's three-game winning streak. Wiggins, who was averaging 13.8 points, also missed six games with a knee injury earlier in the year, and the Lynx have gone 1-6 without her.

Some of those games were also played without leading scorer Seimone Augustus, who missed the first nine games of the season following fibroids surgery. Augustus attempted a season-high 20 shots against the Silver Stars but made just six as Minnesota shot 38.5 percent.

"Not having Candice out there gives us one less offensive option that I think we got comfortable with," coach Cheryl Reeve told the Lynx's official website. "So we've got to figure that part of it out. We have to fill that void in whatever way we can."

Rookie Monica Wright, the No. 2 overall pick, is one candidate to help, but she has gone 5 of 28 (17.9 percent) from the field while averaging 2.8 points in sporadic minutes in her last five games.

"I don't think it's going to be just me individually," Wright said. "I think it's going to be a combination of a lot of different players, and of course I'm going to have to man up."

Minnesota has won both of its previous trips to Atlanta as the road team has won all four meetings since the Dream's inception.