Angel McCoughtry scored 28 points and the Atlanta Dream withstood a 16-0 run by the Phoenix Mercury in the waning minutes to win its franchise-best fifth straight to open the season, 96-93 on Friday night. Diana Taurasi had 30 points but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. She hit two free throws with 40 seconds left to cut what was a 17-point deficit with 4:41 left to 92-91. McCoughtry then missed a 14-footer but Taurasi missed a 17-footer with 7.9 seconds remaining. Atlanta made all four of its free throws in the final seconds. Sancho Lyttle had 20 points and 17 rebounds for Atlanta, which set a franchise mark for points in a half in taking a 65-46 lead. http://www.ajc.com/news/dream-improve-to-5-538380.html
