Angel Reese was honored as the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year before tip-off. Then she spent two hours showing the New York Liberty exactly why she won it.
The No. 4 seed Atlanta Dream beat the No. 8 seed Liberty 92-82 in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series on Sunday in Atlanta, with Reese stuffing the stat sheet: 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.
The game turned on one of the most destructive quarters of defense in WNBA playoff history. Atlanta trailed 40-37 at halftime, then outscored New York 32-15 in the third quarter — forcing nine turnovers and converting them into 16 points, tying a playoff record for points off turnovers in a single quarter since the league moved to quarters in 2006.
The Dream finished with 14 steals and 32 points off the Liberty’s 21 turnovers, tying another WNBA playoff record.
“We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half,” said Jordin Canada, who led Atlanta with 25 points — 20 of them after halftime — plus five steals, four assists and a block. “We came out in the third quarter ready to go. I thought it started defensively with our energy.”
DeWanna Bonner delivered the spark off the bench, scoring 23 points with nine rebounds and two steals in her 17th WNBA season. Before the third-quarter explosion, it was Bonner who lit the fire: “(DeWanna Bonner) got into us in the halftime,” Canada said, smiling. “I’ll just say that.”
The comeback came without point guard Allisha Gray, who exited with a left hand injury. Gray retreated to the locker room late in the first quarter after hard contact on a screen, returned briefly, then grabbed her hand again diving for a loose ball before halftime. She was ruled out for the rest of the game, and her status for the rest of the series is unclear.
New York had three in double figures, led by Sabrina Ionescu’s game-high 27 points, while Breanna Stewart added 19 points, three assists, three steals and three blocks. But the Liberty never solved Atlanta’s pressure. They cut the deficit to five four separate times in the final 5:19 of the fourth quarter — and never got a defensive stop to complete the comeback.
“We know what Atlanta likes to do,” Stewart said. “We need to be better. We need to be more prepared and expect that and change it next game.”
The Liberty, who won the 2025 championship, had swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round. But the Dream, who led the league in forcing live-ball turnovers all season, made New York pay for every sloppy pass — a fact the Liberty already knew from a regular-season loss in which Atlanta did the same thing.
For Reese, it was another milestone in a season that keeps stacking them: first playoff series win, AP Defensive Player of the Year, league rebounding champion for the third straight season — and now, a 1-0 lead on the defending champions’ conquerors.
Game 2 is Wednesday at Gateway Center Arena in College Park. The Aces and Liberty have won the last two championships between them. The Dream are two wins from their first Finals trip since 2018.