The 2026 WNBA semifinals tipped Sunday in dominant fashion.
Despite an injury to all-star Allisha Gray, the No. 4 Atlanta Dream took Game 1 in their best-of-five series against the No. 8 New York Liberty.
The Dream recorded their third straight playoff win by double-digits, the team’s longest streak in franchise history and the longest streak by any team since 2023. The series remains in Atlanta for Game 2 before shifting to New York.
Up next: Game 1 of the semifinal series between the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries and No. 3 Las Vegas Aces.
ESPN breaks down how both Game 1s were won, as well as keys for the rest of the semifinal series.
MORE: Keys to the semifinals | Strengths, flaws for every team |
Top 25 players | Schedule
How the game was won: The Dream came out of halftime like a bat out of hell defensively, completely putting the Liberty on their heels. New York had a decent amount of success on the offensive end in the first half, but Atlanta forced turnovers continuously, and converted them into easy buckets. At the half, the Liberty already had 10 turnovers, with the Dream scoring 13 points off them; in the third quarter alone, Atlanta came away with nine steals and scored 16 points off them — tied for a WNBA playoff record in any quarter. Angel Reese, the recently crowned defensive player of the year, and Jordin Canada led the effort, accounting for three steals apiece, with Canada scoring 12 points in the frame.
New York, which trailed by as many as 16 points early in the fourth, would get back to within five late, but struggled to get the requisite stops down the stretch to pull closer.
What it means for the Dream: This is as good a result as they could ask for, especially given Allisha Gray‘s injury. A lot has been made of Atlanta’s (lack of) depth this season, which could have caused issues with the four-time All-Star being ruled out late in the first half with a left hand injury. But DeWanna Bonner (off the bench) and Canada (playing through foul trouble) showed their veteran experience with a combined 48 points to lead the way. Atlanta took care of business by protecting home court in Game 1, and will look to do it again on Wednesday for a commanding 2-0 lead when the series shifts to Brooklyn later this week.
Who needs to step up for New York? First and foremost, New York needs to take care of the ball more. Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich had five and four turnovers, respectively — though they were far from the only ones with multiple turnovers. Ionescu also had only one assist — an area she pointed to for improvement. Jonquel Jones dominated the glass and did a good job facilitating, but the Liberty are at their best when she is aggressive down low, and she finished with just 12 points on 4-9 shooting on the day. New York also only had six total bench points, a fraction of what Bonner scored singlehandedly for Atlanta. — Alexa Philippou
