Brionna Jones scored a season-high 21 points and Allisha Gray added 20 as the Atlanta Dream used a dominant inside performance to beat the New York Liberty 90-81 on Sunday afternoon at Gateway Center Arena.
The Dream (11-6) scored a season-high 62 points in the paint and finished with five players in double figures. They also notched their first win against the Liberty this season (11-5), their first victory against a top-five team this season and improved to 7-2 at home. Jordin Canada finished with 15 points, Brittney Griner added 14 and Naz Hillmon chipped in 10 off the bench.
Jones sparked the Dream early and again in the third quarter, scoring seven of the team’s first nine points in the period. Her three-point play pushed the lead to 54-40 and the Dream built a 17-point advantage.
“She’s (Jones) been exceptional all season,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said postgame after Sunday’s victory. “She’s like everything you want in a player. … She’s always been really good in the post, but you can see she’s even added some post moves and some different finishes. … She’s been fantastic.”
However, Breanna Stewart responded with seven points to cut the deficit to 63-53 entering the fourth. Gray helped the Dream pull away late, hitting two free throws with 6:40 to play in regulation. Then, Canada grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball in transition and fed the two-time All-Star for a layup that extended the lead to 77-60.
The Dream maintained a double-digit lead for much of the fourth before a late three-pointer by Marine Johannès — her second of the quarter — trimmed the Dream’s margin to nine. The Dream closed out the win with timely defense and rebounding, handing the defending WNBA champions their fourth loss in their last five games.
While Smesko was thrilled about the Dream’s victory, he said there were still things the team needed to improve defensively in the final period as the Liberty chipped away at the team’s lead.
“We probably made the most defensive mistakes, especially having the lead late,” Smesko said. “... We gave up a bunch of threes but at least we were scoring. We didn’t really totally slow down and then not get good shots. We kept the pace up and we still looked inside. There was definitely more of an aggression on the offensive end and that helped us close it.”
The Dream shot 54.5% from the floor but only 4-of-19 from beyond the arc. However, the Dream converted timely threes, hitting three of their four in the fourth quarter with Gray spraying two and Canada with one.
“We always need them (threes),” Smesko said.
Dream star Rhyne Howard, who finished with five points on 2-of-8 shots, left the game midway through the third quarter when she collided with Liberty guard Natasha Cloud during a dribble handoff near New York’s bench. Smesko told reporters there were no updates regarding the two-time All-Star’s status right now.
New York finished the contest shooting 44.1% from the floor including 34.6% from beyond the arc. Stewart led the Liberty with 21 points. Cloud finished with 20 points, followed by Sabrina Ionescu with 14 and Kennedy Burke with 11 off the bench.
The Dream surged ahead in the first half behind a 19-2 run that spanned the first and second quarters, capped by Jones’ fadeaway jumper for a 41-21 lead. The Dream held New York to a season-low 15 second-quarter points and led 47-34 at the break.
Ionescu, who was held scoreless in the opening quarter, helped the Liberty claw back with four quick points late in the second, including a three-pointer. Stewart led New York with a flurry of scoring in the third, but the Liberty couldn’t overcome the Dream’s dominance in the paint.
The Dream jumped out to a 20-14 lead in the first and closed the opening quarter on a 9-2 run, with 24 of their 29 points coming in the paint.
The Dream return to action Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Seattle Storm.
THURSDAY’S GAME
Dream vs. Seattle Storm, 7:30 p.m., WPCH
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