Atlanta Dream Sweep Liberty to Reach WNBA Finals

Atlanta secured its first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013 by defeating the New York Liberty 85-83 on Friday night in New York. Angel Reese led the fourth-seeded Dream with 22 points, while Rhyne Howard scored 21 as Atlanta completed a three-game semifinal sweep and remained unbeaten in the postseason.

The Dream will face either the Las Vegas Aces or Golden State Valkyries when the WNBA Finals begin on October 17. Atlanta, which had not advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs since reaching the semifinals in 2018, now needs four more victories to claim the franchise's first championship.

Atlanta held an 83-81 advantage with 17.7 seconds remaining after committing a turnover that gave New York an opportunity to tie or take the lead. Breanna Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds left, and DeWanna Bonner converted two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Reese played a pivotal role after joining Atlanta in an offseason trade. The league's Defensive Player of the Year also helped compensate for the absence of leading scorer Allisha Gray, who remained sidelined with a finger injury sustained in Game 1.

Gray missed Game 2 and warmed up before Friday's game, but the Dream ruled her out approximately an hour before tipoff. She supported her teammates from the bench wearing a Howard jersey.

Howard established an early offensive rhythm with 11 first-quarter points, while Reese added 10, including two three-pointers. Atlanta carried a 44-39 lead into halftime after Reese scored the final four points of the second quarter.

The contest grew more physical during the second quarter, when officials intervened in confrontations involving Reese, Sabrina Ionescu and Jones. Reese and Jones each received a technical foul after a blocked shot led to a heated exchange.

Atlanta opened the third quarter with seven consecutive points to extend its lead to 51-39. New York answered with a 16-4 run, scoring the first 10 points of that stretch to take its first lead since the opening basket. The Liberty entered the fourth quarter ahead 68-66.

The Dream initially trailed by four in the final period before scoring eight straight points to move ahead 75-71 with 4:55 remaining. Atlanta kept New York without a basket for more than six minutes during the stretch, then maintained its advantage through a back-and-forth finish.

Jonquel Jones and Stewart each finished with 26 points for New York, but their scoring efforts could not prevent the elimination. Jones made a layup late in the game to cut Atlanta's lead to two before Bonner's free throws settled the outcome.

The defeat ended a difficult season for the Liberty, who returned most of the core that won the franchise's first championship two years earlier. New York finished the regular season as the No. 8 seed, upset top-seeded Minnesota in the opening round and then lost all three semifinal games against Atlanta.