ATLANTA– Angel McCoughtry made a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left to give the Atlanta Dream a 76-74 victory over the Lynx on Tuesday night in McCamish Pavilion. The Dream had lost nine games in a row to Minnesota; its last win in the series was June 13, 2014.
Lynx fall on last-second shot to Atlanta Dream
Angel McCoughtry put Atlanta ahead with a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.
By News Services
May 30, 2018 at 11:38AM
"[Angel] made a great play," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "That's what great players do. Angel makes those hard shots when the game is on the line. So, I'm not surprised at all that she hit it."
The Lynx (2-3) led most of the game and were ahead 74-69 when Rebekkah Brunson made a jumper with just under two minutes left, but they didn't score again and missed their last three shots of the game.
"We had a chance to win the game and didn't take care of the ball," Reeve said.
Maya Moore led the Lynx with 18 points. Teammate Sylvia Fowles, listed as questionable because of an ankle injury, had 13 points and 13 rebounds, Seimone Augustus added 12 points and Brunson 10. With a free throw in the first quarter, Brunson passed 4,000 career points.
"They're so talented — their starters," first-year Dream coach Nicki Collen said. "You've got to get to their bench, and then when they bring their starters back you've got to get to their legs. If there was anything I kept preaching, even on every rebound, was "RUN, RUN!"
The Lynx outrebounded the Dream 38-27, but Atlanta offset that by shooting better from the field (a season-high 46.7 percent to 42.6), making more free throws (16-for-20 to 9-for-11) and getting more steals (13-6).
In a 90-76 loss to Washington on Sunday, the Lynx were hurt by the Mystics making 15 threes. This game, Atlanta made only four of 17 three-pointers, but the fourth one decided the game. Minnesota was 7-for-15 behind the arc.
Tiffany Hayes scored 20 points to lead Atlanta (2-2). McCoughtry, who took last season off, had 18 points, five rebounds and three steals. Former Lynx guard Renee Montgomery had 10 points and five assists.
The Lynx led by three points at halftime and six after the three quarters.
"We didn't finish the game out how we wanted to," Moore said. "There's still a lot to take away and a lot of season left."
The Lynx's 2-3 start is their worst since opening 1-4 in 2010.
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