The No. 5 seed Atlanta Dream will try to stave off playoff elimination against the No. 4 seed Dallas Wings this Tuesday, Sep. 19 in the second game of their best-of-three series. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The Dream opened the first quarter of Game 1 on a high note, outscoring Dallas 36-21 and briefly looking like a team that had grown from a poor regular-season showing (zero wins and three losses) against its playoff opponent. Atlanta quickly fell back into bad habits, however, and the Wings capitalized, greatly outscoring the Dream in the second and fourth quarters en route to a 20-point comeback and a comfortable 94-82 home win.
What happened in Game 1
For Atlanta, the loss overshadowed an incredible performance from second-year star Rhyne Howard, who gave another tantalizing glimpse into a bright feature with a game-high 36 points (eight made 3-pointers). Per ESPN Stats & Info, Howard became the youngest player in WNBA history to score at least 30 points in a playoff game, and her 36 points were the most ever scored by a WNBA player in her playoff debut (Across the Timeline).
Howard’s efforts were for naught, however, as the Wings got major offensive contributions from Satou Sabally (32 points; a franchise…
