Reese Scored 22 — Atlanta's 13-Year Finals Wait Ended With a Sweep
GOATIFYFor 13 years, the Atlanta Dream had not played for a WNBA championship. On Friday night in Brooklyn, Angel Reese made sure that wait ended. Her 22 points helped Atlanta hold off the New York Liberty 85-83, complete a 3-0 semifinal sweep and reach the Finals for the first time since 2013. The Dream did it on the road, against a team with recent championship experience, and without injured leading scorer Allisha Gray.
The headline belongs to Reese, whose first Finals appearance follows an offseason move from Chicago and a season in which her defense became a defining part of Atlanta's identity. But the decisive game also showed why this run cannot be explained by one star. Rhyne Howard scored 21, Jordin Canada produced 19 points and 11 assists, and DeWanna Bonner supplied the late free throws that finally closed the door. Atlanta survived New York's biggest comeback punch because its offense had more than one answer and its defense remained organized under pressure.
The reward is a best-of-seven championship series against the Golden State Valkyries beginning October 17. Both finalists swept their semifinals; neither franchise has ever won the WNBA title. Atlanta's breakthrough is already historic, but the most important part of its season is still ahead.
Reese turned her first Finals opportunity into a statement
Reese did not need a record-breaking box score to own the biggest night of Atlanta's season. Her 22 points, nine rebounds and physical presence made the Dream's attack harder to predict than it had been in previous playoff runs. She scored 10 points in the first quarter, including two three-pointers, and had 18 by halftime. That early production helped Atlanta lead 25-18 after one quarter and 44-39 at the break.
The outside shooting was particularly important. New York could not simply pack the paint and treat every Reese touch as a rebounding contest. When a frontcourt player threatens from the perimeter, defenders have to make longer closeouts and Atlanta's guards find more room to attack. Reese is still most disruptive when she can win positioning, finish second chances and defend without sacrificing energy on the other end, but this game showed why even selective perimeter offense changes the geometry of a possession.
Her edge also surfaced in the contest with Jonquel Jones. The two exchanged technical fouls after a physical second-quarter confrontation, one of several tense sequences in a game with the Liberty's season on the line. New York's frontcourt refused to yield: Jones ultimately had 26 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Reese's value was not that she erased that production; it was that she kept Atlanta competitive in the same areas while providing enough scoring to punish the Liberty for overloading elsewhere.
After arriving from Chicago in the offseason, Reese has become part of a balanced team rather than a one-player rescue mission. The Finals appearance is a milestone for her, but the more consequential change is that Atlanta can lean on her intensity without asking her to manufacture every good shot. The Dream now have a frontcourt centerpiece who can affect the game on multiple possessions even when the offense runs through someone else.
Howard and Canada solved the problem left by Allisha Gray's injury
Atlanta's path became more complicated when Allisha Gray injured her left hand in Game 1. She missed Game 2 and was ruled out shortly before Game 3, leaving the Dream without a major source of scoring and perimeter stability. Against an experienced Liberty defense, that absence could have narrowed Atlanta's attack to a few predictable actions. Instead, the rotation produced several different ways to create points.
Howard established the tempo with 11 first-quarter points and finished with 21. Her ability to shoot over defenders and attack a shifting defense prevented New York from loading every help defender toward Reese. The value of Howard's early scoring was not just the seven-point first-quarter lead; it forced the Liberty to respect a second primary option before the game settled into the half-court possessions that usually decide playoff contests.
Canada supplied the connective tissue. Her 19 points mattered, but the 11 assists tell the more revealing story. She could push pace after stops, get Atlanta into organized actions when the game slowed and deliver the ball to teammates before New York's help coverage was fully set. With Gray sidelined, Canada had to be both a scorer and a traffic controller. The Dream's ability to alternate between those roles kept the offense from stalling every time Reese or Howard drew attention.
The depth contributions were equally tangible. Bonner recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds and later made the two free throws that all but sealed the win. Reserve Isobel Borlase added 10 points while shooting five-for-six from the floor. Those numbers are not ornamental details in a two-point elimination-game win. They are the margin between a star-led effort that falls short and a roster-wide performance that survives.
Gray's availability for the Finals remains an important variable, not a problem Atlanta can simply declare solved. Yet the semifinal showed that Karl Smesko's team has workable alternatives: Howard can provide bursts, Canada can direct possessions and veteran and bench contributors can take useful shots without the offense becoming disjointed.
New York's 17-4 surge was real — Atlanta won the final defensive test
For a stretch of the third quarter, the sweep looked far less certain than the series score suggests. New York used a 17-4 run in less than four minutes to erase a 12-point deficit and briefly move ahead. Breanna Stewart scored 10 in the quarter and Jones added nine, giving the Liberty the interior production and urgency they needed to make the home crowd believe the season might continue.
The momentum shift was a genuine stress test. Stewart and Jones eventually finished with 26 points apiece, and Jones' rebounding and shot-blocking made every Atlanta drive expensive. Sabrina Ionescu struggled to four makes on 12 field-goal attempts, but New York's best two frontcourt players created enough pressure to keep the contest tight until the final possessions. A team without championship composure might have tried to answer every basket with a rushed attempt at the other end.
Atlanta's more valuable response was defensive. The Dream held New York to 15 points in the fourth quarter, when the Liberty made only five of 15 shots and one of seven attempts from three-point range. That is the clearest explanation for how a team that had lost the third-quarter rhythm could still win the game. The Dream did not need to dominate every possession. They needed to make the final ten minutes harder for New York than the middle of the game had been for them.
The ending was still precarious. Atlanta led 83-81 with 17.7 seconds left after a turnover handed the Liberty another chance. Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds remaining, and Bonner made two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to stretch the lead. Those sequences underline how thin the margin was: one made layup could have changed the shape of the closing seconds.
New York's elimination is not evidence that Stewart and Jones failed to compete. Both produced huge nights. Atlanta simply got enough stops around those performances and found one more closing contribution. That ability to absorb a rival's strongest surge without abandoning its defensive priorities is the most transferable lesson from the sweep.
A first-time champion is guaranteed — and Golden State presents a new problem
The Finals opponent is not the dynasty that many expected. Golden State eliminated defending champion Las Vegas with its own 3-0 semifinal sweep, finishing the job with an 87-77 overtime victory in Game 3. The Valkyries reached the championship round in only their second season as an expansion franchise, creating a matchup between two clubs still searching for their first WNBA title.
Golden State's path explains why the Dream cannot treat the Finals as a reward lap. The Valkyries built their identity around defense, collective effort and depth, then used those strengths to outlast the Aces. In the clincher, Golden State outscored Las Vegas 16-6 in overtime. Kiah Stokes finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Kayla Thornton led the scoring with 18. Gabby Williams and the rest of the rotation gave Golden State multiple ways to make a possession uncomfortable.
That creates a different matchup from the Liberty series. Atlanta could use Reese's strength and Howard's shot creation to challenge New York's frontcourt and then lean on Canada's passing to find openings. Against Golden State, the Dream may face longer stretches in which the first action is taken away and the second action has to be executed patiently. The Valkyries will try to force difficult late-clock shots and turn Atlanta's frustration into transition chances.
Atlanta has an answer if its guards remain disciplined. Canada's ability to organize the offense is especially valuable against a defense that changes the point of attack, while Howard's shooting can punish defenders who help too aggressively. Reese's rebounding could generate second opportunities when clean looks are scarce. Gray's hand injury adds another variable because her return would change the balance of scoring and defensive assignments, but the Dream cannot plan around an unconfirmed recovery.
Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday, October 17, in San Francisco, with Golden State holding home-court advantage in the best-of-seven series. Neither side arrives as a sentimental underdog: both just swept formidable opponents. The winner will become a first-time WNBA champion, and the team that best preserves its defensive habits while finding enough efficient offense will have the strongest claim.
Atlanta's sweep was not a perfect three-game performance. The Dream played through Gray's injury, weathered a furious Liberty comeback and still needed a missed late layup and Bonner's free throws to secure the final result. That is exactly why the outcome matters: a championship contender has to win when the script changes, not only when its first option is working.
Reese gave the Dream a star performance, Howard supplied early scoring, Canada organized the offense and the supporting cast filled the gaps. Against Golden State's deep, disciplined defense, Atlanta will need that collective version of itself again. The 13-year wait for a Finals appearance is over. The wait for the franchise's first title can end only if the Dream repeat the habits that got them here.
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