The Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries each took a 1-0 lead in their WNBA playoff semifinal series. Atlanta beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Oct. 4, while Golden State defeated the Las Vegas Aces 71-60 in its last meeting. The semifinals are two best-of-five series: Dream against Liberty, and Aces against Valkyries.
Atlanta Takes Game 1
Jordin Canada scored 25 points for Atlanta in the win over New York. Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 27. The Dream entered the matchup with a 30-14 overall record and a 15-5 mark in Eastern Conference games; New York had a 26-18 overall record and went 13-7 in the conference.
Atlanta led the Eastern Conference with 11.9 fast-break points per game. The Liberty averaged 89.6 points per game, 5.1 more than the Dream allowed. New York made 10.2 three-pointers per game, fourth in the WNBA, and shot 34.8% from beyond the arc. Marine Johannes led the Liberty with 2.1 made threes per game while shooting 37.9%.
Atlanta averaged 9.0 made three-pointers per game, the same number New York allowed. Rhyne Howard averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals for the Dream. Allisha Gray averaged 17.0 points over the last 10 games.
Atlanta went 9-1 in its last 10 games. The Dream averaged 91.4 points, 35.5 rebounds, 21.7 assists, 10.1 steals and 3.3 blocks per game. They shot 44.4% from the field in that stretch, while opponents averaged 77.6 points. New York went 6-4, averaging 86.2 points, 37.1 rebounds, 20.0 assists, 6.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game. The Liberty shot 44.9%, and opponents averaged 81.3 points.
Golden State Leads the Aces Series
Gabby Williams scored 25 points as Golden State beat Las Vegas 71-60. A’ja Wilson scored 24 for the Aces. The Valkyries had a 32-12 overall record and went 15-8 against Western Conference opponents; Las Vegas had a 31-13 overall record and went 17-6 against Western Conference teams.
The Valkyries went 3-3 in one-possession games. They averaged 10.4 made three-pointers per game, 1.6 more than Las Vegas allowed. The Aces averaged 8.7 made threes, 0.7 more than Golden State allowed. Las Vegas ranked sixth in the WNBA in paint scoring, averaging 39.8 points per game, with Wilson averaging 12.5 of those points.
Williams averaged 14.4 points and 1.6 steals for Golden State. 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 Valkyries and Aces each went 8-2 in their last 10 games. Golden State averaged 82.7 points and allowed 73.8; Las Vegas averaged 92.7 and allowed 80.4. The Valkyries shot 41.5% from the field in that stretch, while the Aces shot 49.1%.
Game 2 Schedule and Availability
Wednesday’s Game 2s were scheduled for College Park, Georgia, at 7:30 p.m. EDT and San Francisco at 9:30 p.m. EDT. The listed 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.
Atlanta listed Brionna Jones as out for the season with a leg injury and Allisha Gray as day to day with a hand injury. New York listed Satou Sabally as out for the season with a head injury. Golden State listed Iliana Rupert as out for the season because of pregnancy. Las Vegas listed Janiah Barker and NaLyssa Smith as out for the season with leg injuries; Dana Evans, Stephanie Talbot and Jewell Loyd were listed as day to day with injuries.
The USA TODAY Sports team page described former LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese as an impact player in Game 1 of the semifinals. It also displayed Atlanta results: 83-65 against New York on Sep. 24, 92-77 against Washington on Sep. 27, 93-75 against Washington on Sep. 30, and 92-82 against New York on Oct. 4.