5 Biggest Takeaways From the Dream's Sweep of the Liberty

The Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Oct. 4, 101-98 in overtime on Oct. 7, and 85-83 on Friday night at Barclays Center. That is a three-game sweep of the WNBA semifinals by a combined 15 points.

Atlanta is 5-0 in the playoffs and plays in the Finals for the first time since 2013.

New York committed 49 turnovers in three games: 21 in Game 1, 17 in Game 2, and 11 on Friday. Atlanta scored 72 points off them. The Liberty scored 31 off Atlanta's turnovers.

The Dream had 14 steals in Game 1, five by Jordin Canada and four by Angel Reese, and outscored New York 32-14 off turnovers. Atlanta won the third quarter of that game 32-15.

In Game 2, the Dream scored 28 points off 17 Liberty turnovers and had an 11-5 edge on the offensive glass.

New York's 11 turnovers Friday were its fewest of the series. Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said New York tried to speed the game up after the first two games.

"Our players fought like hell," DeMarco said. "They played so hard. Whether it was getting out of that first round to have the chance to play in this one, or just these three games, I'm so proud of our players and how hard they played. You can't always count on makes, and stuff happens. But as far as the fight, the attention, the detail, and the effort, it was all there.

"I thought we had some missed opportunities throughout," DeMarco continued. "Basketball is about the possession game. We obviously struggled those first two games, made some adjustments, and tried to speed the game up a little bit. They have a hell of a team and hell of players. They fought, and I'm just really proud of our team."

Canada scored 25 points in Game 1 on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and powered Atlanta's second half. She had 23 points and eight assists in Game 2. On Friday she finished with 19 points and 11 assists and made all eight of her free throws, leaving her 13-of-13 at the line for the series.

Canada said the respect between opponents stays, even when they are friends.

"Playing former teammates and friends doesn't matter once you cross the lines," Canada said. "The respect remains, but it's literally war."

Reese scored 17, 23, and 22 points for a series total of 62. She grabbed 23 rebounds, 14 of them offensive. In Game 2 she scored six of Atlanta's 13 points in overtime and hit both free throws with 4.3 seconds on the clock to make it 101-98.

Reese and Jonquel Jones were each assessed a technical foul in the second quarter Friday after Jones blocked her shot and the two bumped chests. Reese scored the last four points of that half for a 44-39 lead.

Atlanta acquired Reese in an offseason trade, and she won Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 16.4 points and 12.1 rebounds.

Gray scored seven points in Game 1, the game in which she hurt her hand. She missed Games 2 and 3, warming up Friday before being ruled out about an hour before tip-off.

DeWanna Bonner had 23 points in Game 1, 10 in Game 2, and 13 points with 13 rebounds in Game 3. Naz Hillmon did not score in Game 1 or Game 3 but had 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in Game 2, including the go-ahead layup with 20.8 seconds left in overtime. Isobel Borlase scored two points in Game 1, then 11 and 10 in the two games Gray missed.

Rhyne Howard scored 16, 18, and 21. She shot 17-of-61 from the field across the three games.

Stewart averaged 26.7 points in the series. She scored 19 in Game 1, 35 in Game 2, and 26 on Friday, and she went 30-of-32 at the free-throw line. She missed a 32-foot 3-pointer at the end of overtime in Game 2 and a contested layup with nine seconds left Friday.

Jones scored 12, 21, and 26 and grabbed 33 rebounds in the three games. She had five blocks in Game 1 and 14 rebounds on Friday.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 27 points in Game 1, then 10 and 12. Marine Fauthoux went scoreless in Game 1. In Game 2 she scored 20 on 8-of-10 shooting before fouling out, and DeMarco praised her afterward. She added nine Friday.

Ionescu said Fauthoux arrived as a development player after a year away from basketball.

"They were absolutely amazing," Ionescu said of Fauthoux and Pauline Astier. "Pauline came in, earned her spot, started, picked players up full court, learned the offense with a veteran team, found her voice, and consistently got into the paint to help us win games. The sky's the limit for her, and it was fun to watch her growth.

"[Marine] came in as a development player after not playing basketball for a year and returning from an injury," Ionescu continued. "Her hard work throughout training camp was a testament to the players here, their love of the game and organization, and how important everyone is."

Astier had nine points and six rebounds in Game 1 and five points in Game 2.

New York's bench scored six points in Game 1.

Golden State finished its own semifinal sweep Friday night, beating the Las Vegas Aces 87-77 in Las Vegas. The Valkyries, the No. 2 seed, beat Las Vegas 71-60 in Game 1 and 83-81 in Game 2 behind a late 3-pointer from Veronica Burton. They beat Dallas 2-1 in the first round.

Golden State beat New York 79-60 in Brooklyn on Aug. 27. DeMarco said the Valkyries were one of the teams the Liberty struggled with this season, and that Atlanta plays a similar style.

"They play a different brand of basketball, with some of their switchability on the ball and their physicality," DeMarco explained. "Some of the teams we struggled with, like the Valkyries, were similar. It's a different brand of basketball. I thought our players matched it, if not exceeded it at times.

"At the end of the day, some shots go in and some don't, and you're battling for loose balls and wondering where the whistle is going," DeMarco added. "All that stuff matters. We had the right focus, fought back, had our own lead, and just didn't close. They're a good, well-coached team. Going forward, we know exactly what it's going to take: the level of focus and physicality we had tonight in [Game 3]."

The best-of-seven Finals open Saturday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Golden State. Game 2 is Monday, Oct. 19, at 8 p.m. ET, also at Golden State. Atlanta hosts Game 3 on Thursday, Oct. 22, and Game 4 on Saturday, Oct. 24.