Top-seeded Liberty begin title quest vs. resilient Dream

The Liberty and the Atlanta Dream took starkly different paths to the WNBA playoffs, but they'll converge in New York on Sunday for Game 1 of their best-of-three first round series.

The Liberty (32-8) cruised to the league's best record behind their core of Breanna Stewart, fellow forward Jonquel Jones and guard Sabrina Ionescu.

Stewart's 20.4 points per game were tied for fourth in the league, while Jones' 9.0 rebounding average ranked sixth. Ionescu contributed a team-leading 6.2 assists per game to complement her 18.2 points per game.

New York endured minimal adversity throughout its campaign. The Liberty lost consecutive games just once and secured the league's first playoff spot over a month before the regular-season ended.

For that, New York coach Sandy Brondello is wary of the potential trap that coasting into the playoffs can set.

"We can't let all that hard work of getting the No. 1 seed and playing well come out, and we don't play the right way," Brondello said. "...When you're not playing for anything, we talk about it, ‘Don't get complacent.'"

"It's on us," she continued. "We know what we're capable of."

Brondello's team is hunting a second straight WNBA Finals appearance. The Liberty fell to the Las Vegas Aces in four games in the best-of-five title round last season.

New York reconvenes with an Atlanta squad that won 78-67 at the Liberty in Thursday's regular-season finale to clinch the final playoff spot.

The Dream (15-25) endured an eight-game skid and a separate 2-8 stretch before winning their last three games to secure their second straight postseason bid. They were swept by the Dallas Wings in the first round last season.

"I'm really proud of our athletes, I am, for continuing to fight and never giving in," Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said. " ... After the season that we've had, it's easy to just shut down and say, ‘Hey, it's over anyway.' But they didn't. They fought all year, no matter our circumstances, no matter who was available to us, so that's a special group."

Guards Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray deliver 17.3 and 15.6 points per game, respectively, for the Dream.

Atlanta also deploys center Tina Charles (14.9 points, 9.6 rebounds per game), who became the WNBA's all-time leading rebounder (4,014) and career double-double leader (194) in Thursday's win.

The Liberty went 3-1 this season against the Dream, including 1-1 as the hosts. Game 2 is Tuesday at New York.

--Field Level Media