ATLANTA — The Liberty on Thursday passed their biggest test yet, beating the Atlanta Dream 104-90 in what was arguably New York’s best showing of the season.
The Liberty have been building toward what they did Thursday.
New York won the battle of the boards 40-24 against the league’s best rebounding team. The Dream tended to suppress teams from the perimeter, but the Liberty sank 16-of-31 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Liberty have been tested multiple times already this season. A three-game home losing skid had Breanna Stewart & Co. steaming with frustration.
They knew learning a new system was going to take time, but Stewart said she didn’t expect the team to face the early-season adversity it had.
The entire time, though, first-year coach Chris DeMarco has been preaching patience as he’s worked with fluctuating lineups with players being in and out.
New York is still without Sabrina Ionescu, who missed her seventh consecutive game because of a sore back.
But the Liberty turned things around to close their longest homestand this season with four consecutive wins. They took the show on the road, beating Connecticut Monday before outlasting the Dream Thursday.
The Liberty’s offense looked in sync, making the right movements and finding the open player. Defensively, New York exploited the Dream’s nonshooters and dared Naz Hillmon and Angel Reese to shoot.
The Liberty made the Dream’s life difficult all night.
It was a weird, choppy first half. Several lengthy reviews had the game on pause for minutes.
The Dream went on a 10-2 run to start the second quarter to take a six-point lead, resulting in DeMarco calling a timeout.
The Liberty climbed out of the hole. Stewart fed Jonquel Jones for the go-ahead 3.
New York committed seven turnovers in the second quarter alone, but still managed to take a 51-44 lead at halftime thanks to a crazy deep 3 by Marine Johannes followed by a banked-in, 53-foot buzzer-beating heave by Pauline Astier.
When Betnijah Laney-Hamilton didn’t have it going in the first half, DeMarco pulled her and then reintroduced her to the game with 6:13 left in the third quarter. New York went on a 22-8 run to close the third and took a 16-point lead entering the fourth.
But no lead feels safe, especially after the Knicks pulled off the historic 29-point deficit to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night.
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The Dream are also the best fourth-quarter team in the league, outscoring opponents by 87 points in the final frame entering Friday.
Atlanta made a few runs, but the Liberty made counter adjustments.
Thursday was a full-team effort. Five Liberty players reached double-digit scoring. Satou Sabally led the way with 19 points, going 5-for-7 from behind the arc, off the bench.
The Liberty more likely than not spoiled Atlanta’s dream of contending for this year’s Commissioner’s Cup crown.
Coach Karl Smesko called Thursday a “must win” for his team. But the Liberty outplayed them.
New York improved to 4-0 in Cup play and now own the head-to-head matchup with the Dream, who dropped to 3-2.
