Liberty vs. Dream game 3 preview: Can NY prevent the sweep?
Story by
Liberty vs. Dream game 3 preview: Can NY prevent the sweep?
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 07: Rhyne Howard #10 of the Atlanta Dream shoots over Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty during the second half of game two of the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs at State Farm Arena on October 07, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Brian Fleurantin·SB Nation
·
8 min read
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – OCTOBER 07: Rhyne Howard #10 of the Atlanta Dream shoots over Sabrina Ionescu #20 of the New York Liberty during the second half of game two of the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs at State Farm Arena on October 07, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Time is running out. The New York Liberty fought to get Game 2 into overtime, but couldn't bring it all the way home and lost a heartbreaker,101-98on Wednesday night in Atlanta. They trail this best of five series 2-0 and their backs are completely against the wall now. If they want to get to the WNBA Finals, they'll have to be the first team in league history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a series. It ain't gonna be easy.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Game info and broadcast details
Matchup:#8 New York Liberty at #4 Atlanta Dream
Date: Friday, October 9, 2026
Time:7:30 PM EST (6:30 PM PM CT)
Venue:Barclays Center (Brooklyn, NY)
TV/Streaming:ESPN2
Series format:Best of 5 (Game 3 in New York, Game 4 if necessary at New York and Game 5 if necessary at Atlanta)
Liberty vs. Dream injury report: Who's Out?
Liberty injury status
None
Dream injury status
Brionna Jones (left knee) – Out
Allisha Gray (left hand) – questionable
The game
A mess was made at the end of overtime thanks to confusion surrounding the Liberty's reset timeout status. The officiating crew thought it was wise to call Breanna Stewart aliarin the pool report after the game before changing their tune oncevideoshowed them telling Stewart and Chris DeMarco they were out of timeouts. Officiating in the NBA can be an adventure. In the W, it's an ordeal.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Either way, that wasn't why the Liberty lost and they'll be the first to tell you as much.
"It sounds like a big drama, but I don't think that's the reason why we lost,"Leonie Fiebichsaid. "Of course, it's unfortunate, but I think we could have won before that, didn't let it come that far."
Indeed. And now we move on.
For New York to win, they've got to cut the turnovers down. Amazingly, their 16 turnovers in Game 2 were an improvement from game 1. However, the Dream were still able to cash in with 28 points off of New York turnovers. When games are this close, any mistake takes on even more prominence. The Liberty have to keep things to a minimum and make the most out of every offensive possession.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Jonquel Jones has battled hard against the Dream, but she'll need to do better. She turned it over six times on Wednesday night, and some of them made Liberty fans want to pull their hair out. To her credit, she's blocked nine shots across the first two games. She'll be tasked with trying to slow Angel Reese down tonight. Reese has been masterful in her playoff debut and has firmly established herself as one of the best, most exciting players in the league. Reese's motor is relentless and for Jones and the Liberty, they'll have to match that if they want to extend the season one more day.
Breanna Stewart will be key to the Liberty's chances as well. For the first time in a few weeks, Stewart finally sat down on the bench. However, with the season on the line from here on out, that won't be happening again. Stewart was absolutely magnificent in the first half of game 2 as she got everything she wanted on offense and reminded the world why she's one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace the hardwood. She couldn't maintain that pace after halftime, so look for her to come out firing in order to set the tone of this one early. With the Liberty's margin for error completely gone, they'll need to get off to a strong start and maintain it for as long as possible. Anything less means the season ends.
"Howard has historically struggled against the Liberty, shooting 40% or better in just four of her 18 regular-season and postseason games against New York."
So far, that's held true to form. Across the two games, Howard has shot just 10-40 from the field in two games and a lot of her shots have been fairly head-scratching. The Liberty defense on her has been to force her into contested jumpers and keep her out of the painted area. They've done their job in that respect so far, but they still have plenty of work to do.
To Howard's credit, she's been contributing in other ways throughout the series. She's helped the Dream play the Liberty to a standstill on the boards and has taken on the challenge of guarding some of the Liberty's best players on defense. A sign of a great player is being able to contribute and stay dialed in even when one part of your game isn't working. Howard has done everything asked of her by Karl Smesko and if the Dream complete the sweep, Howard's contributions will go a long way in getting Atlanta back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013.
How can the Liberty save their season?
ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 7: Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty speaks with Sabrina Ionescu #20 during the game against the Atlanta Dream during Semi-Finals Game 2 on October 7, 2026 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
If the Liberty want to push this series to a game 4, they'll need a lot better from Sabrina Ionescu. For her career, Sabrina is shooting 91% from the free throw line,third bestin WNBA history. However, she shot just 2-of-6 from the free throw line in Game 2, and who knows how the game would have gone early if she made her free throws. Combine that with a late turnover where she was split on whether to shoot or make the pass out to Jonquel Jones in the corner, and things are looking hectic for the Liberty icon.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
However, her confidence hasn't wavered and she's ready to stay in the fight.
"[Bouncing back is] what I've done my whole career,"Ionescusaid. "You're gonna win, you're gonna lose, you're gonna hit a game-winner, you're gonna turn it over. It's just part of sports. And if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. So I think for me, it's just having kind of the mentality of knowing in these moments they're gonna prepare me for what's to come."
For Ionescu, the challenge will be finding the balance between finding her shot and keeping the offense. After game 1, she acknowledged she needed to do a better job of finding her teammates, in particular Jonquel Jones. She corrected that some in game 2 with seven assists, but shot just 3-8 from the field. The Dream have thrown a series of looks at her, and it's up to her to figure it out in order to make a positive impact. We've seen Ionescu rise to the occasion in the playoffs before, and she'll have to do it again if the Liberty's dreams of making it to the Finals want to live on for one more night.
