Washington Mystics face elimination in the WNBA playoffs

The top-seeded Washington Mystics fought so vigorously to gain home-court advantage in the WNBA playoffs, moving up from fourth place by winning the final six games of the season. Then in just a couple of hours Wednesday night, they squandered it.

Following their 95-90 loss to the fourth-seeded Atlanta Dream in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Mystics face elimination in the best-of-three series on Friday in Atlanta. Washington, which has lost seven consecutive postseason games, is 1-7 all-time in road playoff games.

"We're back to reality," Mystics forward Crystal Langhorne said. "We realize we have to win on Friday. There's nothing else - we have to win. We'll be ready."

The Mystics weren't ready for what Atlanta threw at them to start Wednesday's game. The Dream switched lineups, going with four guards and keeping 6-foot-5 Erika de Souza on the bench.

"You've got to give a lot of credit to the coaches of Atlanta," Mystics center Chasity Melvin said. "They threw something different at us the first six minutes . . . [putting] a small lineup out there. That kind of threw us out of our focus and what we had intended to do."

Added Langhorne: "I really think that caught us off guard. We were shocked de Sousa wasn't starting, and it really messed us up in the beginning. Our offense wasn't flowing."

It was a clever strategy on Atlanta's part, completely disrupting Washington's carefully planned defensive assignments. Before the Mystics could adjust, the Dream raced out to a 10-1 lead.

"I don't care what they're doing - we don't give up 10 points that quickly," Washington Coach Julie Plank said.

As an opening gambit, it was a brilliant move by Atlanta. The Dream stole home-court advantage away from Washington and left the Mystics wondering what it might be planning for Friday's game. With less than 48 hours between games, Washington has little time to prepare for all the possibilities.

"I think it's more of just an individual thing," Mystics guard Katie Smith said. "It's just a pride thing. It's just getting the job done."

Though much was made of Washington's poor defensive effort, its offense didn't fare much better. The Mystics made less than 40 percent of their shots. Lindsey Harding, Monique Currie and Smith, in particular, seemed to misplace their shooting touches. Harding missed 16 of her 21 shot attempts, including three of her four three-point attempts. Smith went 1 for 5 from three-point range and 2 of 7 overall. Currie missed 8 of 9 field goal attempts but did grab 11 rebounds.

"We were pressing a little bit at the beginning," Smith said. "When you [are going against] a different [defensive] lineup, you're trying to find your way of how to attack it. I just think it took a second for us to get a little bit of a groove to start the game - how to attack them, what are they giving you, what are they taking away from you. It's kind of a feeling out process, especially since they did change their lineup. Things that are usually there were a little different."