The New York Liberty were depleted with just eight available players. They are still without Breanna Stewart, Nyara Sabally, and Isabelle Harrison, but also lacked Sabrina Ionescu, who is day-to-day with a left foot injury.
The limited roster was evident, and New York struggled in almost every area in the 78-62 loss to the Atlanta Dream.
New York had troubles protecting the ball, totaling 14 turnovers in the game. It wasn’t creating extra chances either, only hauling in four offensive rebounds.
On the other hand, Atlanta capitalized on the Liberty’s errors, converting them to 18 points. It also dominated the rebound battle. The Dream outrebounded the Liberty 42-33 and scored 21 second-chance points off their 17 offensive boards.
The Liberty were slow to step into help defense, and couldn’t get their shots to fall consistently. New York only took 13 shots in the first quarter and could only get five to drop. It didn’t find much success from three-point range either, going 2-of-9.
Atlanta fared much better in the opening frame, sinking 10 shots on 48% shooting and knocking down 4-of-9 threes.
The Dream grabbed five offensive boards in the first 10 minutes, with three of them coming from one possession, which ended with a Maya Caldwell triple to lead 20-9 with 2:25 left.
New York trailed 24-14 to start the second quarter, but stepped on the court with more aggression and physicality. However, Atlanta matched the intensity and pushed its lead to as many as 21 points in the frame.
Natasha Cloud tried to put the weight of the game on her shoulders; however, she only added seven points and didn’t see action in the final quarter.
The Liberty started gaining steam in the third quarter. Their defense stepped up and forced a shot clock violation, and Jonquel Jones followed it up by putting her hand in front of a pass for a jumpball call.
Jones was the only Liberty that found success behind the arc until Leonie Fiebich made a triple, to cut the deficit to 20 points halfway through the period. New York looked to build on the momentum, but instead, Atlanta took command once again.
Caldwell made both free throws after being fouled. New York tried to find an open player, but found Stephanie Talbot, who wasn’t balanced and stepped out of bounds. Caldwell missed a shot from deep, but she raced to the basket to grab the rebound and put it back up to lead 62-38.
Marine Johannès increased her intensity in the final stretch of the game. She was active on defense, pestering whoever had the ball and recording a block. Her shooting wasn’t effective, only scoring seven points on 25% shooting, but she led the team with five assists.
The Liberty were able to switch the narrative with a 15-0 lead that started in the third quarter to trail 64-53 with 6:44 left in the game. However, the Dream responded with a 10-0 run. With just 3:10 left on the clock, the game was too far out of reach for New York.
Kennedy Burke provided a crucial spark off the Liberty bench. She finished the day with a team-high 13 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, one triple, and a pair of free throws. Burke also contributed five rebounds in her 27 minutes.
