New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) shoots a layup during the second half of a WNBA basketball first-round playoff game against the Atlanta Dream on Sept. 22 in New York.Corey Sipkin/The Associated Press
LIBERTY 83, DREAM 69
NEW YORK (AP) — Leonie Fiebich hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting, Breanna Stewart added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the New York Liberty never trailed Sunday in their 83-69 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
New York can sweep the best-of-three series with a win Tuesday in New York. Game 3, if necessary, is Thursday in Atlanta.
The Liberty — who made each of their first six field-goal attempts, including four 3-pointers — jumped to a 13-4 lead. Allisha Gray was fouled on a jumper and hit the and-1 free throw to cut Atlanta’s deficit to four with 5:33 left in the first quarter, but the Liberty scored the next 14 points — the final seven by Sabrina Ionescu — to take an 18-point lead. The Dream went scoreless for more than four minutes before Tina Charles hit a fade-away jumper to spark a 7-2 spurt that trimmed their deficit to 29-16 going into the second quarter.
New York made 8 of 11 from the field, 5 of 6 from the 3-point range and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line while outrebounding the Dream 11-3 in the first period. Atlanta, which shot 35.3% (6 of 17) and went 0 for 6 from behind the arc, trailed by double figures for the final 33-plus minutes.
SUN 93, FEVER 69
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Alyssa Thomas had the 15th triple-double of her career to spoil Caitlin Clark’s playoff debut as Connecticut beat Indiana in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.
Thomas finished with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, earning her fourth postseason triple-double. Marina Mabrey led the third-seeded Sun with 27 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Her 27 points are the most by a reserve in the playoffs, according to ESPN.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Connecticut with a potential decisive third game in Indiana on Friday night if necessary.
Clark, who earlier in the day was announced as the AP Rookie of the Year, finished with 11 points, recovering from a rough start. She also had eight assists. Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana.
LYNX 102, MERCURY 95
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored a playoff career-high 38 points and Minnesota blew a 23-point lead before rallying late to beat Phoenix in Game 1 of a best-of-three series.
Minnesota, the Western Conference champions and No. 2 seed, turned a 32-19 first-quarter lead into a 50-27 advantage with 5:35 left before halftime. Phoenix whittled nine points off its deficit, trailing 56-42 at intermission, and closed within 77-69 heading to the fourth quarter.
Kahleah Copper scored five points in a 10-2 run and her 3-pointer followed by two free throws by Brittney Griner gave seventh-seeded Phoenix its first lead since scoring the first four points of the game. Natasha Cloud’s layup put the Mercury on top 92-91 with 2:06 left to play, but Myisha Hines-Allen answered with a layup and Bridget Carleton hit a 3-pointer in a 9-0 spurt to pull out the victory.
Collier sank 11 of 19 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers and 13 of 14 free throws for Minnesota. She added six rebounds and four assists. Kayla McBride hit three 3-pointers and all seven of her foul shots, scoring 20. Carleton had 12 points, six boards and four assists, and Hines-Allen added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench.
ACES 78, STORM 67
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 21 points and blocked five shots after earning her record-tying third MVP award earlier Sunday, and the two-time defending-champion Las Vegas held Seattle to a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter in pulling away for a 78-67 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three series.
Wilson made just 1 of 8 shots as Las Vegas missed 16 of 18 altogether and fell behind 18-9 after one quarter. She had four points at halftime and Seattle led 42-38 after Jordan Horston and Mercedes Russell both made two free throws in the final 43 seconds.
But the third quarter was a different story as Wilson sank seven shots with a 3-pointer, accounting for 15 of the Aces’ 26 points. Skylar Diggins-Smith had a three-point play in the final minute and the Storm took a 65-64 lead into the final period.
Kelsey Plum missed her first seven shots, but she had the first basket of the final quarter at the 7:04 mark to give Las Vegas the lead. Seattle missed its first seven shots, and back-to-back layups from Wilson and Tiffany Hayes pushed the Aces’ lead to 70-65 with 4:49 left to play. Diggins-Smith hit two free throws for the Storm’s first points to get them within three, but Chelsea Gray had two baskets in an 8-0 run to wrap up the victory. Seattle missed all 13 of its shots and turned the ball over six times in the final 10 minutes.