Dream beat Liberty 85-83 to sweep semifinals and reach first WNBA Finals since 2013
Atlanta advanced to the championship round without a playoff loss and will face Golden State, while New York's season ended.
What we know
- Atlanta beat New York 85-83 in Game 3 at Barclays Center on Friday to win the WNBA Semifinals series 3-0. [1]
- Angel Reese scored a team-high 22 points for the Dream; Jordin Canada had 11 assists and DeWanna Bonner had 13 rebounds. [1]
- Jonquel Jones led New York with 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Breanna Stewart added 6 assists. [1]
- Atlanta will face Golden State in the WNBA Finals starting Saturday, Oct. 17, according to The Associated Press. [2]
- Not yet confirmed: The Dream's Allisha Gray was ruled out about an hour before tip-off. The AP described her injury as a finger injury sustained in Game 1, while the official injury report lists a hand injury.
The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 on Friday night at Barclays Center, completing a three-game semifinal sweep and advancing to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013. [1][2]
The fourth-seeded Dream have not lost in this year's postseason, according to The Associated Press. They will face Golden State, which swept defending champion Las Vegas, in the Finals beginning Saturday, Oct. 17. Atlanta had not reached the semifinals since 2018 before this season, the AP reported. [2]
Angel Reese led Atlanta with 22 points. Jordin Canada had a game-high 11 assists, and DeWanna Bonner led the team with 13 rebounds. [1] Reese, whom the AP identified as the league's Defensive Player of the Year, joined Atlanta in an offseason trade and scored 10 points in the first quarter, including two 3-pointers, the AP reported. [2]
Jonquel Jones scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for New York. Breanna Stewart also scored 26, according to the AP, and had a team-high 6 assists. [1][2]
Atlanta took a 44-39 halftime lead and opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run, the AP reported. New York answered with a 16-4 run and led 68-66 after three quarters. Atlanta then scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter to lead 75-71 with 4:55 left, and New York went more than six minutes without a field goal, according to the AP. [1][2]
Atlanta led 83-81 with 17.7 seconds left. Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds remaining, and Bonner made two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the win, the AP reported. "I missed a bunny to tie the game which really stinks," Stewart said. [2]
Atlanta played without Allisha Gray, its leading scorer, according to the AP. Dream coach Karl Smesko said: "We were able to make the last couple of plays and able to move onto the Finals." [2]
New York finished as the No. 8 seed in the playoffs after a season of inconsistency, the AP reported. The Liberty beat top-seeded Minnesota in the first round before losing to Atlanta. "What I'm thinking about right now is a lost opportunity," Stewart said. [2]