Atlanta shuts the door early
Atlanta needed one half to settle this one. The Dream beat the New York Liberty 83-65 on Wednesday, and the game was effectively over by halftime. Allisha Gray led the way with 24 points, Naz Hillmon added 16, and Atlanta’s defense forced 15 turnovers with 10 steals while holding New York to 32 percent shooting through two quarters.
The second quarter buried New York for good. The Liberty managed just seven points in that span, their lowest-scoring quarter of the season, and Atlanta turned a tight game into a 41-26 halftime lead it never came close to giving back.
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Injuries piled up on both benches
Dream star Angel Reese played through pain. She took an elbow from Sabrina Ionescu late in the second quarter, finished with just six points and six rebounds in 17 minutes, and did not return, a quiet night for a player who broke her own franchise double-double record earlier this season. New York had its own issues before tip-off, missing eight-time All-Star Breanna Stewart because of left knee soreness. Jonquel Jones added 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds before spraining her left ankle in the third quarter.
New York wasn’t without answers. Marine Fauthoux came off the bench for a career-high 14 points, and Han Xu contributed 11.
Home court secured, first round set
Atlanta finishes 30-14 and locks in the No. 4 seed with home-court advantage in the first round, its fifth straight win. The Dream will face either Indiana (28-15) or Washington (27-16). New York ends 26-18 as the No. 8 seed and opens against top-seeded Minnesota (32-11), the same team the Liberty beat to win the 2024 WNBA title. Two years after that championship run, New York now has to survive a road trip to Minneapolis just to keep the season alive. The playoffs start Sunday.
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