Dream's Angel Reese finding range going into battle with Liberty

First place in the Eastern Conference will be on the line Thursday night when the Atlanta Dream host the red-hot New York Liberty in College Park, Ga.

Atlanta (8-3, 3-1 Commissioner's Cup) enters its first matchup of the year with New York atop the conference standings and winners in four of its last five. The Dream own the league's second-best scoring defense (78.9 points allowed per game) and the second-highest point differential (plus-6.5 ppg).

Helping Atlanta ascend to the top spot in the East has been newcomer Angel Reese. The offseason acquisition has posted five straight double-doubles and leads the league in rebounds per game (12.2) to go along with 13.6 points per contest. The next step to the third-year star's evolution is her outside shot.

In the Dream's 82-75 win over her former team the Chicago Sky on Tuesday, Reese had 17 points and 17 rebounds, while knocking down her second 3-pointer of the season -- an emphasis on the two-time All-Star's all-around game.

"It makes it easy when you have teammates that really trust and believe in you even when I don't necessarily want to take the shot and second-guess myself," Reese said. "(Head coach) Karl (Smesko) gets on me and tells me to take those shots and (teammate) Rhyne (Howard) tells me if I don't take it, she's not going to pass it. So it's tough love, but it's also the confidence they give me to continue to put a lot of work into it."

Allisha Gray's 19.2 ppg lead the Dream, followed by Howard's 17.9.

New York (8-4, 3-0 Commissioner's Cup), meanwhile, streaks into Georgia with the conference's longest winning streak. The Liberty's 89-80 road victory over the Connecticut Sun on Monday extended the streak to five.

"I love this team. We're growing together, we're building together," first-year New York head coach Chris DeMarco said. "It seems like every game it's somebody different. We've just found a way to get wins. I'm really proud of this group."

New York has gotten off to its impressive start despite the absence of Sabrina Ionescu, who has played in just one game as she deals with a back injury.

Two-time league MVP and seven-time All-Star Breanna Stewart leads the Liberty with 20.5 ppg. Jonquel Jones, the 2021 WNBA MVP and a five-time All-Star, averages 13.1 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game.

--Field Level Media