Liberty chase finals return

NEW YORK (AP):

Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty have become familiar with this stage in recent seasons.

New York will make its third semi-final appearance in the past four WNBA playoff campaigns when the Liberty face the Atlanta Dream today in Game 1 of their best-of-five series.

“Experience in the playoffs definitely matters,” Stewart said Friday before practice. “There’s so many things (during a longer series) that you have to stay focused on the end goal.”

That goal is a return to the WNBA Finals and the pursuit of a second championship in three seasons.

“With this group, for the majority of us, (we’ve) been in this type of series, where it’s not getting too high or too low is the huge important part,” Stewart said. “And what we did in the first round is great – we’re happy to be here – but that wasn’t a goal for our season to get out of the first round.”

New York were dominant in the opening round, sweeping the Minnesota Lynx and becoming the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history.

“The approach that we’re having in these playoffs is pretty much where you want to be,” Stewart added. “We’re the ones that are staying poised, staying under control at all times. But we’re gonna be aggressive for the full 40 minutes and, if you want something, you’re gonna have to go through us to get it.”

The Dream are newcomers to this stage, advancing to the semi-finals for the first time since 2018.

Recognising the team’s lack of playoff experience beyond Jordin Canada, Dream general manager Dan Padover moved to strengthen the roster by signing DeWanna Bonner as a free agent in late August. Bonner has appeared in 100 playoff games, the most in league history.

She joined a talented line-up featuring Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray and Angel Reese. That core helped the Dream secure their first playoff-series victory since 2016 with a sweep of the Washington Mystics.

“I think the pace that they were playing with was really good,” Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said.

“I think (Bonner) brought a lot of veteran leadership to them, a lot of timely scoring to really settle them into games. I think Howard and Gray are just two really good – or great guards that we have to slow down. When the game gets tough, they kind of put their heads down and kind of take over that scoring.”

Downright defensive

The Dream boasted one of the league’s top defensive units this season, anchored by WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese.

Atlanta led the league in steals per game at 9.1 and converted those takeaways into 18.1 points per contest. The Dream elevated that production in the playoffs, scoring 27 points off turnovers in their Game 1 victory over Washington before adding 23 more in the series-clinching win.

Atlanta’s aggressive approach in the passing lanes also makes it difficult for opponents to score in transition.

Late-season familiarity

The teams met in the final two games of the regular season, with the No. 4 seed at stake, and Atlanta won both contests.

Stewart sat out the second meeting for rest ahead of the playoffs. Neither side is placing much emphasis on those results, although the games provided both teams with recent film and useful scouting material.

Moving to a bigger arena

The Dream will play the first two games of the semi-final series at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta played six regular-season games at the venue, which seats more than 17,000 fans. The team’s regular home court, Gateway Center Arena, has a capacity of about 3,500.

The Dream also hosted Game 1 of their first-round series against Washington at State Farm Arena. Should Atlanta advance to the WNBA Finals, their venue plans remain uncertain, with singer Sombr scheduled to perform at the arena on the night of Game 3 and the Hawks set to host their home opener on the same evening as a potential Game 4.