The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Oct. 4, taking a 1-0 lead in their WNBA playoff semifinal series. Jordin Canada scored 25 points for Atlanta, while Sabrina Ionescu put up 27 for New York. The Golden State Valkyries also took a 1-0 lead, beating the Las Vegas Aces 71-60 in their last meeting. Gabby Williams led Golden State with 25 points. A’ja Wilson scored 24 for Las Vegas.
The semifinals feature two best-of-five series: Dream vs. Liberty and Aces vs. Valkyries. The schedule sets the terms. Teams that lose have to respond on the court, and the format means the outcome stays open until one side wins enough games. The USA TODAY Sports team page also called former LSU women's basketball star Angel Reese an impact player in Game 1 of the WNBA semi-finals.
The numbers behind the matchups
Atlanta came into the series 30-14 overall and 15-5 in Eastern Conference games. New York stood at 26-18 overall and 13-7 in the conference. The Dream led the Eastern Conference with 11.9 fast break points. New York made 10.2 3-pointers per game, fourth in the WNBA, while shooting 34.8% from deep. Marine Johannes led the Liberty with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game and shot 37.9%.
Atlanta averaged 9.0 made 3-pointers per game, matching the number New York allowed. The Liberty scored 89.6 points per game, 5.1 more than Atlanta's 84.5 points allowed per game. Rhyne Howard averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals for Atlanta. Allisha Gray averaged 17.0 points over the last 10 games. Breanna Stewart put up 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists for New York, while Jonquel Jones averaged 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
The Dream went 9-1 over their last 10 games. They averaged 91.4 points, 35.5 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 10.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game, shooting 44.4% from the field. Opponents averaged 77.6 points. The Liberty went 6-4, averaging 86.2 points, 37.1 rebounds, 20.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.9%. Their opponents averaged 81.3 points.
Injuries and the next games
Atlanta listed Brionna Jones out for the season with a leg injury and Allisha Gray day to day with a hand injury. New York listed Satou Sabally out for the season with a head injury. Golden State listed Iliana Rupert out for the season because of pregnancy. Las Vegas listed Janiah Barker and NaLyssa Smith out for the season with leg injuries. Dana Evans, Stephanie Talbot and Jewell Loyd were day to day with knee or leg injuries.
The Aces stood 31-13 overall and 17-6 against Western Conference teams; the Valkyries were 32-12 overall and 15-8 against Western Conference opponents. Golden State went 3-3 in one-possession games. Las Vegas ranked sixth in the WNBA in paint scoring, at 39.8 points per game, with Wilson leading the way at an average of 12.5. Golden State averaged 10.4 made 3-pointers per game, 1.6 more than Las Vegas allowed. The Aces averaged 8.7, or 0.7 more than Golden State allowed.
Williams averaged 14.4 points and 1.6 steals for Golden State, while Janelle Salaun averaged 12.7 points over the last 10 games. Wilson averaged 26.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks for Las Vegas. Jackie Young averaged 20.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 46.3% over the past 10 games.
The AP previews listed Wednesday's Game 2s in College Park, Georgia, at 7:30 p.m. EDT and in San Francisco at 9:30 p.m. EDT. The listed Dream-Liberty line was Dream -3.5, with an over/under of 171.5. The Valkyries-Aces line was Valkyries -1.5, with an over/under of 157.5. The court decides the series. The listed Game 2s begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT and 9:30 p.m. EDT.