Dream's defensive showcase, led by Angel Reese, stymies Liberty in Game 1 of WNBA semifinals: '[DPOY] is in Atlanta for a reason'

ATLANTA — Angel Reese keeps her vision board to herself and checks off items as the season progresses. She knocked off Defensive Player of the Year this month , one of the items listed at the bottom as one of her individual aspirations, and accepted the trophy in front of the home fans on Sunday.

When she did, she added a task to a to-do list: she intends to engrave it with the names of Atlanta Dream teammates Jordin Canada and Rhyne Howard. She's been saying for weeks now that any of the three league leaders in steals were worthy of the award.

Few would argue with that in the aftermath of a 92-82 win over the No. 8 New York Liberty in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals on Sunday. No one who watched the third-quarter suffocation of two former MVPs and an all-WNBA guard, specifically, would dissent.

"It goes to show," Angel Reese told a group of reporters post-game. "Defensive Player of the Year is in Atlanta for a reason."

The Dream snatched balls out of bellies and smacked them out of the air. In the second quarter, Reese denied Sabrina Ionescu at the rim and delivered a staredown to an amped courtside crowd. In one third-quarter sequence, Canada played swiper three times in a row. Collectively, they smothered a team that still starts four players from their 2024 championship team.

The Liberty couldn't sniff a whiff of the paint if it were a perfume store. Atlanta locked them out, forcing drivers wide and shots off target. The Dream fully shut the door in a deafening third quarter that should rattle the thought of a Liberty Finals.

New York led 40-37 at the half. It was a grind of a game, but one they could break through. They were shooting better (43.8%) than the Dream (34.3%) and began to find their groove offensively, allowing Breanna Stewart to pull up in the mid-range and Pauline Astier to drive.

DeWanna Bonner, a rare late-season acquisition who's already one of the best midseason signings of the decade, lit into her young, inexperienced roster. Reese, Howard and Allisha Gray, who sustained a hand injury and only played 10:47, are playing in their first semifinals. Bonner notched postseason game No. 101 on Sunday. She declined to divulge exactly what she said.

Canada, who won two titles with Stewart and Sue Bird in Seattle in her first and third seasons, shared the basics. They needed a second-half surge that started in the first three minutes of the quarter.

"It started defensively with our energy," Canada said. "We were able to get stops and get out in transition, which is what we do best, and from there we were able to separate a little bit and finish off."

It was a return to the unfancy, yet no less skilled, bread and butter that carried them here. They turned the Liberty over nine times in the frame for 16 points, more than the Liberty's 15 points as a team. New York shot 42.9% from the perimeter with three 3s, but 1 of 7 from inside the arc (14%). Jones and Stewart, with their inside presence, combined to shoot 1 of 4. The Dream pounded the paint (18-2), won in transition (11-0) and off second chances (5-0).

Canada, the veteran point guard, came back from early foul trouble — "I might have been a little bit too handsy," she admitted — finished the game with a team-high five steals, 25 points and even a block. Reese had four steals and three blocks, along with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 turnovers. Howard scored 16 with a team-high eight assists. Bonner had 23 points, going 10 of 18 and 3 of 6 from 3. Each had one steal, as six of nine players who saw the court stole it at least once.

One-third of Atlanta's total offense came from points off turnovers. They turned the Liberty over 21 times — nearly identical to the 20 they had in two of their three regular-season games against Atlanta — for 32 points. It tied the WNBA postseason record for points off turnovers.

"We'll go back and watch the film and just understand those points off turnovers really mattered, especially on a team that feeds off of it," Ionescu said.

An understatement of the century. Ionescu, Stewart and first-year head coach Chris DeMarco all said afterward they knew Atlanta's favorite meal. They were aware that live-ball turnovers would be key. It was the question posed to them all week leading into their semifinal appearance as a No. 8 seed, the first to do so in league history. Stewart noted the Dream did this exact same thing two weeks ago in the regular season.

Left unsaid: They couldn't do anything about it.

"We need to be better," Stewart said. "We need to be more prepared and expect that."

Atlanta successfully set the semifinals' tone in the franchise's first appearance since 2018. The Dream, which came into the league as a 2008 expansion team, has never won a championship despite reaching the Finals three times in four years between 2010 and 2013. They finished the regular season as one of the league's best defensive units, limiting the fastbreak and second-chance points. They averaged a league-high 9.1 steals per game.

They've upped it in the playoffs. Rarely could New York beat them back on offense, forcing the Liberty to fight for every inch. Not even Stewart, the three-time WNBA champion too often dragging this Liberty team to success, could save them with a late flurry. A steal-and-score pulled the Liberty to within five with 2:50 to play. It was the third time in 2:30 of game time they pulled as close. Atlanta led by as many as 16.

On her way back down the court's sideline, Reese yelled and motioned "settle down" with a purpose. She told head coach Karl Smesko to call a timeout. He obliged.

In red carpet-worthy street clothes, her Defensive Player of the Year trophy safe in the bowels of State Farm Arena, Reese said she felt the team was getting too high and needed to regroup.

"We wanted to make sure we were better than that, because this is the playoffs," Reese said. "Anybody can come back, and especially in this environment. If this was in New York, I mean, it could have went another way, especially with their crowd into it."

The three-game series made Reese nervous. Anything can happen in those, she said. A five-game series gives more of a runway, which DeMarco said he will take as the Liberty make those adjustments for Game 2 on Wednesday.

"I don't want to dictate and rely on five games," Reese said. "I want to be able to win, win, win, win, win and move onto the next round. That's kind of how the mindset has been."

To reach the playoffs for the first time in her three-year career was technically on her goal sheet. But she said she knew she would reach it playing for the Dream, the team that traded for her on the dawn of an abbreviated offseason window. Clinching the semifinals proved the franchise could get over the hump after Howard, Gray and Canada lost in the first round a year ago.

At the top of the vision board are team goals, led by the one she said earlier on Sunday would mean more than DPOY: a WNBA championship. They're one defensive showcase closer to it.