Jordin Canada, DeWanna Bonner lead Dream past Liberty in Game 1 of WNBA semifinals

Jordin Canada scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half and had five steals to help the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals series in Atlanta.

DeWanna Bonner added 23 points and helped fill the void when Allisha Gray went down with a left hand injury in the second quarter. Atlanta once again played stellar defence, scoring 32 points off 21 forced turnovers, including 16 in a dominant third quarter.

New York trimmed a 16-point deficit down to five in the closing minutes, but a clutch three-pointer by Canada just before the shot clock buzzer followed by another transition layup off a stop stemmed the tide. Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 27 points and Breanna Stewart added 19.

Atlanta Dream reach WNBA semifinals with Game 2 win over Washington Mystics

The Liberty led by three at the half before Atlanta outscored New York 32-15 in the third quarter. Reese and Canada had three steals apiece in the third, keying a 13-3 run to start the half which gave Atlanta a lead it never surrendered.

Game 2 of the series is Wednesday in Atlanta.