Canada scores 25 as Dream beat Liberty 92-82 in Game 1
Updated October 9, 2026: Removed an unsupported description of the crowd at State Farm Arena. Reese's sequence now points to the separate Game 1 breakdown.
Jordin Canada scored 25 points as Atlanta beat New York 92-82 to open their semifinal series. Her three off an Angel Reese pass with 1:30 left restored a 10-point lead (ESPN play-by-play). The Dream had taken control in the third quarter, outscoring the Liberty 32-15 and repeatedly turning turnovers into points.
The finish
New York had cut a 16-point hole down to 80-75 after a Jonquel Jones three with 4:00 left. Then Reese went right at them. Driving layup, 82-75 at 3:43. She missed the free throw. Breanna Stewart answered with a steal and a layup. Reese answered back, finishing a Canada feed at 2:24 for 84-77. Sabrina Ionescu traveled on the next trip. Then came the Reese-to-Canada three. Ionescu hit a 29-footer with 51.7 left to make it 87-82, but Canada closed it with a running layup at 30.0 (play-by-play).
How it got there
This one didn't start pretty for Atlanta. New York won the first quarter 24-21 and took a 40-37 lead into halftime (ESPN game page). Ionescu was hitting from everywhere. There were 15 lead changes (box score).
Then the third quarter happened. Atlanta outscored New York 32-15. After a Leonie Fiebich step-back three put the Liberty up 43-39 at 9:13, the Dream ripped off a 20-2 run, capped by back-to-back Canada layups for 59-45 at 4:05 (play-by-play). A Te-Hina Paopao layup at 9.1 made it 69-55 after three.
New York didn't fold. Stewart, Jones and Stewart again hit an 8-0 burst early in the fourth to cut a 71-55 lead to 71-63. DeWanna Bonner stopped the bleeding with a three at 7:43 (play-by-play). Bonner was huge all night with 23 points and 9 boards on 10-of-18 shooting (box score).
Reese's night
Reese finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocks. She scored twice late in the fourth before finding Canada for the three that made it 87-77. Her four turnovers and two missed free throws left room to improve, but her defense and late possessions helped Atlanta hold the lead. Our Reese Game 1 breakdown follows each of her four steals (ESPN box score).
The rest of the box
Canada led Atlanta with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including four threes, and added five steals (box score). ESPN noted 20 of those came after halftime (ESPN recap). Rhyne Howard shot 5-of-20 but still put up 16, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. Atlanta outscored New York by 14 during Hillmon's minutes despite her scoreless night. That describes the team's results with her on the floor, rather than measuring her contribution on its own.
Atlanta won the steals battle 14-6, scored 32 points off New York turnovers to 14, and won fast-break points 18-0 (box score).
For New York, Ionescu had 27 on 10-of-20 with 5 turnovers. Stewart had 19 and 3 blocks. Jones had 12, 11 boards and 5 blocks (box score). That's good production. It got wiped out by the giveaways.
The bad news for Atlanta: Allisha Gray played just 11 minutes and was ruled out with a left hand injury (ESPN).
Game 2
Dream lead the best-of-five 1-0 (ESPN game page). New York just swept the top-seeded Lynx (our Game 2 recap), so nobody should bury them. But the Liberty can't hand Atlanta 21 turnovers and expect to steal one in their building.
My Game 2 pick is Atlanta, even if Gray remains out. Canada gave the Dream efficient scoring, and the defense forced 21 turnovers. New York needs to protect the ball before its shooters can change the series.
How this story was made: Ryan Moalemi picked the story and the angle. Full Court Buckets gathers its own game data and verifies it against official box scores. AI tools drafted it from that data and the sources linked above so it could post the same night, then Ryan reviewed and edited it before publishing. How we make Full Court Buckets
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