Dream struggles in second half in loss to Liberty

The fourth quarter wasn’t favorable for the Atlanta Dream as they fell 104-90 against the New York Liberty on Thursday night.

The Liberty took advantage early on fast-break points, taking an eight-point lead with 6:46 left in the first quarter. It was a wakeup call for the Dream’s offense to answer back and close the gap in the remainder of the period. The half-court defense also showed up stronger for Atlanta going into the second quarter, resulting in a 10-2 run to build the team’s momentum.

Though falling behind to close out the half, Atlanta went toe-to-toe with New York, turning things around to re-establish their presence.

It didn’t last long, however, as the Liberty came with a new surge of energy to take over the second half to make their presence known.

“I thought we competed hard, but had a few too many defensive breakdowns,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “And then, you know, just didn’t shoot well with the open shots or free throws, kind of gave up too many points there, and just couldn’t make that final run at the end.”

There were some positives to note during the first half. Angel Reese showed more confidence in her shots, scoring 14 of Atlanta’s 44, while Rhyne Howard added another milestone to the record book with her first made three-pointer of the night, making her the youngest player in WNBA history to make 400 career threes in just 147 games.

Key Moments

The third quarter proved to be the difference as New York knocked down six 3-pointers in the period, including two each from Rebekah Gardner and Satou Sabally. The Liberty entered the fourth quarter with an 80-64 lead and never looked back.

Atlanta lacked stability on offense and ran into constant trouble getting stops starting in the second half. Though attempting to make it up, going into the fourth with a 9-0 run, the 15 of 27 free throw attempts, getting out-rebounded early on from New York and struggling to hold them on defense proved to cost them in the end.

Top performers

Dream

Angel Reese: 25 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists

Rhyne Howard: 24 points and 4 rebounds

Allisha Gray: 18 points and 3 rebounds

Naz Hillmon:7 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists

Jordin Canada: 3 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists

Liberty

Satou Sabally: 19 points and 3 rebounds

Breanna Stewart: 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists

Marine Johannes: 17 points and 1 rebound

Jonquel Jones: 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists

Pauline Astier: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists

Highlight Play

During Atlanta’s 10-2 run to open the second quarter, Howard blocked Breanna Stewart’s shot and sparked a fast break, finding Isobel Borlase for a 3-pointer that extended the Dream’s lead to six with 7:32 left in the quarter.

Quotable:

“We’re gonna have to get better at ball screen defense, so that we don’t get quiet or caught in so many rotations, because New York spaces you out, and they have great ball movement, and they’re going to punish your rotations...so we’ll have to get better in that area, but we will, because we’re going to work on it, and you know, we’re committed to getting better.” -- Coach Smesko on New York’s second and third quarter lead.

“Angel and Rhy kept instilling in me that they needed me. I know I kind of had a slow start, especially from the free-throw line, so I was kind of getting in my head a little bit, because I just want to help Rhy and Angel out so bad, and just like relieve pressure from them. So it’s just finding ways that I could to just relieve pressure on them, but I know tonight, I gotta do better from the free throw line. Three for nine, that’s unacceptable. So I’m kind of hard on myself about that.” -- Allisha Gray on her 5-0 tear at the start of the fourth quarter