The New York Liberty showed why they were the No. 1 seed with a dominant performance in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday. Though the final margin was only 14 points, the game was essentially out of hand from the end of the first quarter.
Breanna Stewart had 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks in another stellar all-around effort, while rookie forward Leonie Fiebich went off for a career-high 21 points in her very first playoff game. She moved into the starting lineup in place of Courtney Vandersloot, who came off the bench to pass Sue Bird for the most career playoff assists.
Here’s everything you need to know about this series:
No. 1 New York Liberty vs. No. 8 Atlanta Dream
- Game 1: Liberty 83, Dream 69
- Game 2: Dream at Liberty, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. ET — ESPN
- Game 3*: Liberty at Dream, Sept. 26, TBD — ESPN2
*If necessary
Players to watch
Liberty: Breanna Stewart
The league’s reigning MVP put together another impressive season and will now try to lead the Liberty to a championship, which would be her third and the team’s first. Throughout her career, Stewart was known for rising to the occasion in the playoffs, but she was coming off a frustrating showing last season. Most notably, she shot 3-of-17 in Game 4 of the Finals as the Liberty were eliminated by the Aces. How will she respond this time around?
Dream: Rhyne Howard
The former No. 1 overall pick took a bit of a step back this summer, as she dealt with injury and didn’t shoot the ball well overall. Few players are as explosive as her when she has it going, though, as we saw towards the end of the season when she had three consecutive 30-point games, which is tied for the second-longest such streak ever. The Dream had the worst offense in the league this season, and if they want to keep up with the Liberty, they’ll need some big games from Howard.
Three keys to the series
3-point shooting
Outside shooting is a key aspect of the game in general now, but it will be particularly important in this series, given the discrepancy in approach between the two teams. The Liberty will shoot until their arms fall off, while the Dream would prefer to work the ball inside the arc.
Here are the numbers:
|
Liberty |
29.0 |
1st |
34.9 |
5th |
|
Dream |
19.4 |
9th |
30.8 |
11th |
The Liberty, who set 3-point shooting records last season, have been a bit streaky this summer, but they have far more shooting talent than the Dream. If they have an even halfway decent series, it’s going to be very hard for the Dream to keep up.
Defending without fouling
The Liberty had the third-best defensive rating in the league this season (95.3), in large part because they were able to defend without fouling. They finished first in opponent free throw rate at 0.217, and first in fewest free throw attempts allowed per game (14.8).
That restraint will be tested in a major way by the Dream, who rely heavily on getting to the free-throw line. The Dream were third in the league in free-throw rate (0.294), second in free-throw attempts per game (20.0), and first in percentage of points via free throws (20.0).
It’s going to be a big challenge for the Dream to match the Liberty’s output on the offensive end in this series. If they’re unable to get to the free-throw line for easy points, they’ll have no chance.
Liberty’s homecourt advantage
It took a bit longer than expected due to the Minnesota Lynx’s incredible post-Olympics surge, but the Liberty eventually secured the top seed, which comes with homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. That will be a big boost to their chances of winning it all, but especially of beating the Dream.
In the unique 2-1 format for this best-of-three first-round series, the Liberty get to play Games 1 and 2 at home and have a chance to sweep without needing to travel.
The Liberty went 16-4 at home this season, while the Dream were just 7-13 on the road. And that includes the final game of the regular season on Thursday, in which the Liberty, who had nothing to play for, essentially conceded the game to the Dream.
Prediction
The Dream dealt with a lot of injury problems this season, and aren’t quite as bad as their record would indicate, but the Liberty are the far superior team here. It would be a surprise if this series heads to Atlanta. Pick: Liberty in 2
