The Atlanta Dream swept the New York Liberty in the WNBA semis, advancing to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013.
Atlanta’s dusting off of New York mirrored the Dream’s first-round playoff vanquishing of the Washington Mystics, marking a “dream” postseason (pun intended) for the team.
Atlanta has won nine of its last ten games and now stands at 30-14 on the year.
It got there by producing a balanced stat line. The team has averaged 92.6 points per game in the postseason, shot 42 percent from the field, hit 90% from the free-throw line, grabbed 32 rebounds per game, committed only eight turnovers per game, and scored 24 points per game off turnovers. Jordin Canada has led Atlanta, averaging 19.2 points, 8.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.8 steals per game.
Valkyries star Gabby Williams (photo courtesy Nevada Sports Net)
The Dream will now face the Golden State Valkyries (32-12), led by forward Gabby Williams, who averages 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists and shoots 47.3% from the field in the playoffs. Golden State reached the final with a 3-0 sweep, beating the Las Vegas Aces led by formidable center A’ja Wilson.
It will be a tough climb for Atlanta because the Valkyries have won 73% of their games this season, and have done so with a strong stat line: 87 points per game, shoot 42% from the field, 85% from the free-throw line, and 33 rebounds per game, while committing only nine turnovers and scoring 14 points off turnovers.
Angel Reese (photo courtesy FOX News)
Golden State is the betting line favorite (-2.5) in a seven-game series that begins Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Eastern at San Francisco’s Chase Center.
If Atlanta hopes to make this a competitive series, the Dream needs to get to the free-throw line and convert at a high rate, Angel Reese needs to maintain her productivity on the boards, and Canada, Rhyne Howard, Wanna Bonner, and guard Isobel Borlase have to have good series on both sides of the court, including keeping Williams in check and forcing other Valkyries players to beat them.
If the Atlanta Dream can keep getting big contributions from their stars and role players, they’ll have a good chance of winning their first WNBA title.
