Dream sweep Liberty to earn first WNBA Finals berth since 2013 - ESPN

NEW YORK — Angel Reese scored 22 points, Rhyne Howard added 21 and the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 85-83 on Friday night to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2013.

The fourth-seeded Dream completed the three-game sweep of the Liberty and haven't lost in the postseason this season. Atlanta will face the winner of the Las Vegas-Golden State series when the WNBA Finals begin on Oct. 17.

The Dream hadn't reached the semifinals since 2018 before this season. Now, they'll try to win the franchise's first championship with four more victories.

Atlanta led 83-81 with 17.7 seconds left after turning the ball over, giving New York one last chance. But Breanna Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds left. DeWanna Bonner hit two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to seal the win.

Reese, who was the league's Defensive Player of the Year, came to Atlanta this offseason in a trade and proved to be a key reason the Dream advanced to the championship round.

She picked up some of the scoring slack that was left as Atlanta was once again without leading scorer Allisha Gray, who has been sidelined because of a finger injury suffered in Game 1. She missed Game 2 and warmed up before Friday night's game but was ruled out about an hour before the tipoff. She was on the bench cheering for her teammates in a Howard jersey.

Howard got the Dream going early with 11 points in the first quarter. Reese had 10 in that period, including hitting two 3-pointers.

Things got chippy in the second quarter. After Isobel Borlase scored twice in a row, Sabrina Ionescu went to set a screen on her and was called for the offensive foul. She and Reese then started jawing with each other before being separated by officials. A