The Dream finished off a sweep in thrilling fashion over a New York championship core! Angel Reese, in just her first season, leads Atlanta to the promised land with a 22-point, 9-rebound performance. Full recap below:
The Dream came into tonight’s game looking to clinch their first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013. They would have to do it without the services of Allisha Gray, who is still nursing a left hand injury suffered in Game 1.
In Game 2, Rhyne Howard struggled with her shot en route to a 5-for-20 (25%) shooting night. On the first offensive possession, head coach Karl Smesko drew up a double screen play to get her a wide-open triple.
Howard continued to pour it on from there, finishing the quarter with 11 points.
Angel Reese did her usual dirty work in the trenches, but she also showcased her confidence shooting from the corners with two first quarter threes.
Atlanta built an eight-point lead by the first timeout, 20-12. They held their nerve from there and took a 25-18 lead after the first 10 minutes.
After a smooth operation in the first quarter, the second quarter featured more foul calls — chopping up the rhythm of the game. Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu even got into a bit of verbal battle after a couple of physical plays midway through the period.
Tempers flared a bit again after a Jonquel Jones block on Reese as the two came chest to chest near the stanchion. The emotions from the players and the crowd seemed to slowly will the Liberty back into the contest.
With Naz Hillmon picking up three first half fouls, Isobel Borlase got some extended run, and she made the most of it with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
At halftime, the Dream led 44-39 behind Angel Reese’s 18 points on 6-for-11 shooting plus four rebounds, three assists, and two stocks (steals plus blocks).
The second half began the same way the first half did — a designed play to get a Howard a triple. But New York ripped off an 8-0 run a little later to bring the scoring margin down to four points.
The Liberty rode that wave of energy to take the lead multiple times, but Jordin Canada pushing the pace in transition created scoring opportunities to counter every New York score. She even had a personal 9-0 run for the Dream to keep them close.
Jones in particular torched the Dream through three quarters, recording 22 points on 9-for-14 (64%) shooting with 10 minutes left to play. Her team held onto a narrow 68-66 lead heading into the final period.
Halfcourt offense remained a struggle throughout the second half for the Dream, but they got enough timely stops to remain always within arms’ reach.
The Dream even retook the lead halfway through the period as they looked to take advantage of evident fatigue from New York, who kept the same lineup on the floor for the final 19 minutes of the game.
Canada, the energizer bunny she is, continued to push and make difficult shots at the rim. With the Dream up two inside of two minutes, she flipped a shot up onto the glass and in with her right plus the foul.
A last-minute possession saw two turnovers in the span of five seconds, but the Liberty managed to recover it with 17.7 seconds last.
Naz Hillmon, five fouls and all, stonewalled Breanna Stewart on a post touch to force a miss. DeWanna Bonner stepped up and hit two clutch free throws to essentially clinch it for the Dream.
The Atlanta Dream are headed to their first finals since 2013!
Source: www.peachtreehoops.com
