Allisha Gray and Atlanta Dream bury Liberty with decisive second-quarter surge

Seven points changed the night

The Liberty actually opened with enough balance to suggest a tighter contest. Sabrina Ionescu hit a step-back three at 3:22 of the first, Jonquel Jones added a long jumper at 2:29, and Han Xu scored at 1:59 as New York moved in front 19-16 before Atlanta trimmed it to 19-18 by the end of the quarter. That was the last moment the game really looked unsettled.

The break came early in the second. Gray opened the quarter with a three at 9:28, Pauline Astier answered to tie it 21-21 at 9:11, and then Atlanta took the game away in a hurry. Naz Hillmon scored twice inside, Jordin Canada drilled a three at 6:24, Angel Reese finished a layup at 5:48, Rhyne Howard scored at 5:34, and Hillmon banked in a three at 5:05. What had been even suddenly looked lopsided because Atlanta kept stacking clean possessions while New York stopped finding enough made shots to respond.

By halftime the Liberty had managed only seven points in the period, and the scoreboard reflected the damage: Atlanta 41, New York 26. The sequence that closed the half said plenty about the flow of the game. Gray converted a layup and the extra free throw with 49.9 seconds left, and Reese added two late flagrant free throws at 5.6. From the 21-21 tie, the Dream finished the half on a 20-5 burst.

Gray had the loudest line, but Atlanta won with order

Gray was the clearest headliner, finishing with 24 points on 8-for-17 shooting, going 4-for-7 from deep and adding five assists. She was not alone. Hillmon gave Atlanta 16 points, Canada added 12 points and five assists, Howard handed out six assists, and DeWanna Bonner chipped in nine points with eight rebounds. The Dream did not need one player to dominate every trip because several of them kept the ball moving to the next good option.

That collective poise is the real story of the box score. Atlanta recorded 25 assists on 30 made field goals and committed only six turnovers. New York, by contrast, finished with 20 total turnovers. That gap helped create a huge difference in opportunity: the Dream took 77 shots to the Liberty's 55. Atlanta also added 12 offensive rebounds and 12 steals, which meant a shooting night that was merely decent, 39.0 percent overall and 28.6 percent from three, was still more than enough.

New York did make one honest push in the fourth. Raquel Carrera scored at 9:28, Han Xu completed a three-point play at 6:26, and Marine Fauthoux kept producing at the line until the deficit was down to 63-56 with 5:03 left. Atlanta answered like the steadier team all night. Gray scored at 4:49 and 3:32, Canada added a basket at 3:11, Bonner hit a three at 2:34, and Gray buried another from deep at 1:24. That sequence turned a manageable margin back into a finish the Liberty could not touch.

Our take: the Liberty found some fight, but not enough control

There were still useful pieces for New York. Jones collected 10 points and 14 rebounds, Fauthoux scored 14 and went 8-for-9 at the free-throw line, Han Xu added 11 points, and Carrera was efficient with nine points on 3-for-3 shooting while also contributing four assists. The Liberty also won the rebounding battle 40-35 and shot 20-for-22 at the line. Those are usually foundations for staying in a game. Here, they mostly explained why the margin stopped at 18 instead of growing even larger.

Our take: New York's cleanest path to improvement is not mysterious. Protecting the ball has to come first after 20 total turnovers against a team that turned those mistakes into 15 points and added 12 steals. The other obvious correction is shot selection and shot-making from outside, but the evidence here says the Liberty cannot live on the perimeter when the threes are not falling. They went 5-for-29 from deep, while interior and foul-line production from Jones, Carrera, Han and Fauthoux did far more to keep the offense alive.

Our take on Atlanta is simpler: this looked like the better organized team, and organization won the game. The Dream did not shoot lights out, but they shared the ball, protected it, and kept finding extra possessions. There is still room to sharpen. A 39.0 percent field-goal night and a lead that shrank from 20 to seven in the fourth show this was not flawless. But if Atlanta keeps creating 25 assists with only six turnovers, it will keep giving itself exactly the kind of margin that carried this one at Barclays Center.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Quarter · 9:39

   Jordin Canada makes 5-foot driving floating jump shot (Rhyne Howard assists)

2. 1st Quarter · 9:12

   Pauline Astier makes 5-foot driving floating jump shot

3. 1st Quarter · 8:59

   Rhyne Howard makes 17-foot pullup jump shot (Angel Reese assists)

4. 1st Quarter · 8:30

   Allisha Gray makes running layup (Jordin Canada assists)

5. 1st Quarter · 7:53

   Sabrina Ionescu makes 13-foot pullup jump shot (Raquel Carrera assists)

6. 1st Quarter · 7:22

   Allisha Gray makes free throw 1 of 2

7. 1st Quarter · 7:22

   Allisha Gray makes free throw 2 of 2

8. 1st Quarter · 7:05

   Raquel Carrera makes layup (Pauline Astier assists)

9. 1st Quarter · 5:45

   Jonquel Jones makes free throw 1 of 2

10. 1st Quarter · 5:45

    Jonquel Jones makes free throw 2 of 2

11. 1st Quarter · 5:28

    Angel Reese makes layup (DeWanna Bonner assists)

12. 1st Quarter · 5:03

    Rhyne Howard makes running layup (Angel Reese assists)

13. 1st Quarter · 3:42

    Sabrina Ionescu makes free throw 1 of 2

14. 1st Quarter · 3:42

    Sabrina Ionescu makes free throw 2 of 2

15. 1st Quarter · 3:22

    Sabrina Ionescu makes 23-foot three point step back jumpshot

16. 1st Quarter · 3:07

    Isobel Borlase makes 3-foot two point shot (Angel Reese assists)

17. 1st Quarter · 2:56

    Jonquel Jones makes free throw 1 of 2

18. 1st Quarter · 2:29

    Jonquel Jones makes 28-foot running jump shot (Sabrina Ionescu assists)

19. 1st Quarter · 2:12

    Isobel Borlase makes 8-foot pullup jump shot (Te-Hina Paopao assists)

20. 1st Quarter · 1:59

    Han Xu makes layup (Jonquel Jones assists)

21. 1st Quarter · 56.9

    Isobel Borlase makes 4-foot two point shot

22. 2nd Quarter · 9:28

    Allisha Gray makes 24-foot three point jumper (Jordin Canada assists)

23. 2nd Quarter · 9:11

    Pauline Astier makes 7-foot pullup jump shot (Marine Johannes assists)

24. 2nd Quarter · 7:57

    Naz Hillmon makes running layup (Allisha Gray assists)

25. 2nd Quarter · 6:55

    Naz Hillmon makes 3-foot layup (Allisha Gray assists)

26. 2nd Quarter · 6:24

    Jordin Canada makes 25-foot three point jumper (Rhyne Howard assists)

27. 2nd Quarter · 6:02

    Rebecca Allen makes 23-foot three point jumper (Raquel Carrera assists)

28. 2nd Quarter · 5:48

    Angel Reese makes driving layup (Jordin Canada assists)

29. 2nd Quarter · 5:34

    Rhyne Howard makes two point shot

30. 2nd Quarter · 5:05

    Naz Hillmon makes 26-foot jump bank shot (Jordin Canada assists)

31. 2nd Quarter · 1:26

    DeWanna Bonner makes free throw 1 of 2

32. 2nd Quarter · 1:01

    Han Xu makes driving layup (Pauline Astier assists)

33. 2nd Quarter · 49.9

    Allisha Gray makes driving layup (DeWanna Bonner assists)

34. 2nd Quarter · 49.9

    Allisha Gray makes free throw 1 of 1

35. 2nd Quarter · 5.6

    Angel Reese makes free throw flagrant 1 of 2

36. 2nd Quarter · 5.6

    Angel Reese makes free throw flagrant 2 of 2

37. 3rd Quarter · 9:01

    Naz Hillmon makes 2-foot layup (Rhyne Howard assists)

38. 3rd Quarter · 8:08

    Jordin Canada makes free throw 1 of 2

39. 3rd Quarter · 8:08

    Jordin Canada makes free throw 2 of 2

40. 3rd Quarter · 7:49

    Jonquel Jones makes 2-foot layup (Raquel Carrera assists)

41. 3rd Quarter · 7:37

    Rhyne Howard makes 16-foot pullup jump shot (Naz Hillmon assists)

42. 3rd Quarter · 6:55

    Jonquel Jones makes 7-foot two point shot (Marine Fauthoux assists)

43. 3rd Quarter · 6:39

    Naz Hillmon makes 24-foot three point jumper (Allisha Gray assists)

44. 3rd Quarter · 6:19

    Raquel Carrera makes free throw 1 of 2

45. 3rd Quarter · 6:19

    Raquel Carrera makes free throw 2 of 2

46. 3rd Quarter · 5:05

    Raquel Carrera makes 23-foot three point jumper (Marine Fauthoux assists)

47. 3rd Quarter · 4:19

    Allisha Gray makes driving layup

48. 3rd Quarter · 4:19

    Allisha Gray makes free throw 1 of 1

49. 3rd Quarter · 3:29

    Marine Fauthoux makes 3-foot two point shot

50. 3rd Quarter · 1:42

    Rebekah Gardner makes 3-foot two point shot (Marine Fauthoux assists)

51. 3rd Quarter · 1:16

    Rebecca Allen makes 22-foot three point jumper (Raquel Carrera assists)

52. 3rd Quarter · 48.0

    Allisha Gray makes 24-foot three point step back jumpshot

53. 3rd Quarter · 29.6

    Marine Fauthoux makes driving layup

54. 3rd Quarter · 7.1

    Naz Hillmon makes 2-foot layup (Jordin Canada assists)

55. 4th Quarter · 9:28

    Raquel Carrera makes layup (Marine Fauthoux assists)

56. 4th Quarter · 8:13

    Jordin Canada makes 25-foot three point jumper (Allisha Gray assists)

57. 4th Quarter · 7:12

    Han Xu makes 10-foot running jump shot (Marine Johannes assists)

58. 4th Quarter · 6:26

    Han Xu makes driving layup (Marine Johannes assists)

59. 4th Quarter · 6:26

    Han Xu makes free throw 1 of 1

60. 4th Quarter · 6:09

    Naz Hillmon makes free throw 1 of 2

61. 4th Quarter · 6:09

    Naz Hillmon makes free throw 2 of 2

62. 4th Quarter · 5:59

    Marine Fauthoux makes driving layup

63. 4th Quarter · 5:59

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 1 of 1

64. 4th Quarter · 5:03

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 1 of 2

65. 4th Quarter · 5:03

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 2 of 2

66. 4th Quarter · 4:49

    Allisha Gray makes 2-foot layup (Rhyne Howard assists)

67. 4th Quarter · 4:23

    Anneli Maley makes free throw 1 of 2

68. 4th Quarter · 4:23

    Anneli Maley makes free throw 2 of 2

69. 4th Quarter · 4:05

    DeWanna Bonner makes free throw 1 of 2

70. 4th Quarter · 4:05

    DeWanna Bonner makes free throw 2 of 2

71. 4th Quarter · 3:51

    Han Xu makes free throw 1 of 2

72. 4th Quarter · 3:51

    Han Xu makes free throw 2 of 2

73. 4th Quarter · 3:32

    Allisha Gray makes 24-foot three point jumper (Rhyne Howard assists)

74. 4th Quarter · 3:11

    Jordin Canada makes two point shot (Allisha Gray assists)

75. 4th Quarter · 2:55

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 1 of 2

76. 4th Quarter · 2:55

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 2 of 2

77. 4th Quarter · 2:34

    DeWanna Bonner makes 25-foot three point jumper (Rhyne Howard assists)

78. 4th Quarter · 1:24

    Allisha Gray makes 25-foot three point jumper (Naz Hillmon assists)

79. 4th Quarter · 58.5

    DeWanna Bonner makes 23-foot three point jumper (Te-Hina Paopao assists)

80. 4th Quarter · 52.8

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 1 of 2

81. 4th Quarter · 36.5

    Madina Okot makes two point shot

82. 4th Quarter · 18.9

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 1 of 2

83. 4th Quarter · 18.9

    Marine Fauthoux makes free throw 2 of 2