Dream could be realized with win or Sparks might fly in LA

A matchup of the No. 2 team in the WNBA vs. the No. 3 team pits the red-hot Atlanta Dream against the up-and-down Los Angeles Sparks.

The game will showcase two of the best defenses in the league and two of the best players in Candace Parker and Tiffany Hayes.

The second-place Dream (15-9) will be gunning to stay ahead of the third-place Sparks when they invade the Staples Center on Wednesday night. The Sparks (14-10) will be looking to make it two straight since losing to Indiana, the league's worst team.

Atlanta has won seven straight and is 8-2 in its past 10 games. Los Angeles is only 4-6.

The Dream continued their improbable season on Sunday with an impressive 87-74 road win over Western Conference leader Seattle.

Elizabeth Williams scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Dream. All-Star Hayes and Angel McCoughtry added 16 points.

Also on Sunday, the Sparks got back on the winning track and beat the Chicago Sky on the road.

The Sparks and Dream have played once this season. On June 12, Parker scored 19 and Nneka Ogwumike posted a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) in a 72-64 Los Angeles win.

The turning point in the Dream's season might have come during the road trip that ended with the loss to the Sparks, which dropped Atlanta to 5-4. Since then, the team that went 12-22 last season has gone 10-5 and is in the thick of playing for a first-round bye in the playoffs.

"I think we have to feel good about the fact that we came on the road and won two of three," Dream coach Nicki Collen told reporters after the loss to the Sparks. "I think that is a huge road swing for us. I don't think anybody is hanging their head in there. I think they're disappointed that we didn't win, but we battled and I think we proved that we can compete with L.A."

The Dream continue to be consistent and focused on getting better each time out.

The same can't be said for the Sparks, who have battled injuries and uneven play.

For instance, Ogwumike did not dress in Los Angeles' win over Chicago -- the second straight game she has missed. Defensive specialist Alana Beard also did not play because of groin injury and it's uncertain if either will be able to play Wednesday. Odyssey Sims hobbled off the court in the waning moments and her status is in limbo as well.

But the Sparks still had a determined Parker and a few other weapons, as the Sky discovered.

"Obviously, it was a huge void with (Beard and Ogwumike) missing," Parker told the DailyHerald.com, "but it's not going to be one player who does it. It's going to be a team effort. I thought we came out and defended. It was getting stops for us, making things difficult for them."

Wednesday's game sets up two of the league's best defenses. The Sparks sit second in the league, allowing 77.4 points per game. The Dream are third at 78.9 points per game.

Both teams are at the bottom in scoring offense. The Dream average only 79.2 points per game, ninth best in the league, and the Sparks average 79.8, eighth best.

The key for the two defenses is simple.

Los Angeles must stop Hayes. Atlanta has to rein in Parker.

Both tasks are easier said than done.

In the win over Chicago, Parker compiled 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Without Ogwumike and Beard in the game, Parker showed how she can take over and sometimes leave her teammates and the opposition in awe.

"That's almost a triple-double," said Chicago's triple-double machine, Courtney Vandersloot. "I think she's the key to their offense. She's tough to guard.

"I mean, she's a great player. It's hard, it's tough. We had players really working and trying, but she's going to have games like that."

Stopping Hayes also is easier said than done. On Monday, she was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Hayes led Atlanta to a 3-0 record while ranking second in the conference in scoring at 18.0 points per game to go with 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.