2014 WNBA: Dream look to continue streak against Liberty

The Atlanta Dream look to extend their winning streak to six game on Friday when they open a home-and-home series with the New York Liberty at Philips Arena. Atlanta's winning streak has enabled them to climb to the top of the Eastern Conference standings with an 8-3 record.

Atlanta completed a home-and-home sweep of the Washington Mystics on Wednesday with an 83-73 win. Angel McCoughtry tied a season-high with 27 points and helped fuel a late 14-0 run by the Dream to claim the victory. Atlanta is a league best 6-1 at home and look to continue that trend against a Liberty team that comes in struggling.

New York has lost four straight including a 105-100 decision in overtime to the Chicago Sky on Wednesday. Cappie Pondexter finished with 29 points in the loss while Tina Charles added 25.

It has been a struggle for the Liberty offensively behind Pondexter and Charles. They are second worst in the league with a 96.0 offensive rating. Bill Laimbeer has brought an aggressive defense into the fold along with Charles but New York simply hasn't been able to make the plays offensively down the stretch of games to find many victories particularly on the road where they have lost six straight.

Atlanta appears to be hitting their stride under Michael Cooper during their winning streak. The Dream possess a potent offense but have also shown the ability to grind out games when the situation calls for it. Perhaps most importantly they lead the league in defensive rating at 96.8 and that will keep them in a lot of games when their shooting might be off.

Getting their offense back rolling might be tough against the Liberty who will do a good job of turning the game ugly if need be. Pondexter and Charles are both capable of big performances but how Atlanta controls the rest of the roster might be difference in a win or a loss.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, June 20, 7:30 p.m.

Location: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

TV: SportSouth

Streaming: WNBA Live Access