The New York Liberty defeated the Atlanta Dream 83-69 on Sunday, kicking off a saturated playoff slate in dominant fashion. As the No. 1 seed, they stay in Brooklyn with a chance to close out the series on Tuesday, while the No. 8-seed Dream will wrestle to force a Game 3 in Atlanta.
The rookie tipping the scales
Predictions of a blowout were quickly validated on Sunday. Atlanta ended the first quarter down 13, never taking a lead. The deficit swelled to 22 in the second half. Leonie Fiebich, the German rookie on the shortlist for Sixth Player of the Year, made her postseason debut with a career-best 21 points. The rest of the box score read as expected. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu combined for 37. Atlanta was lead by Rhyne Howard’s 14 points, coming at an uncomfortable 35-percent clip.
The Dream found scattered successes, but none will cut the sour taste of Sunday’s loss. They led the game in points in the paint, offensive rebounds, second-chance points, fastbreak points and points off turnovers. Their reserves kept pace; Ezinne Kalu,…
