NBA

Atlanta Dream at New York Liberty

· Women's National Basketball Association
Atlanta Dream
14-22, 6-12 Away
Final
87 - 83

New York Liberty
16-20, 9-9 Home

Howard delivers playoff-clinching win for Liberty over Dream

With New York leading 80-79 in a back-and-forth fourth quarter, Howard hit a 24-footer to put the Liberty up by four with 55 seconds remaining. The Dream extended their ensuing possession by collecting a couple of offensive rebounds before Aari McDonald made a driving layup to trail 83-81 with 26 seconds left. Sabrina Ionescu and Howard both made two free throws for New York and the Liberty led by six before McDonald made another layup to close out the scoring.

The win, New York's sixth in its past eight games, sent the Liberty to the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. New York will play No. 2 Chicago in the first round.

Atlanta (14-22) lost its fourth in a row and sixth in its past eight games.

Marine Johannes scored 18 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting for New York. Stefanie Dolson added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Rhyne Howard had 24 points and seven assists for Atlanta. Monique Billings added 15 points, Maya Caldwell 14 and McDonald 11.

Regular Season Series

NY wins series 3-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 83 - 87
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 83 - 86
4th 2.5 Aari McDonald makes driving layup 83 - 86
4th 8.5 Natasha Howard makes free throw 2 of 2 81 - 87
4th 8.5 Natasha Howard makes free throw 1 of 2 81 - 86

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/atl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originATL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/ny.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNY
27-74 FG 27-60
36 Field Goal % 45
10-31 3PT 15-32
32 Three Point % 47
19-22 FT 18-22
86 Free Throw % 82
38 Rebounds 34
13 Offensive Rebounds 4
25 Defensive Rebounds 30
20 Assists 23
9 Steals 3
1 Blocks 4
10 Turnovers 16
1 Team Turnovers 0
11 Total Turnovers 16
0 Technical Fouls 1
0 Total Technical Fouls 1
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
19 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 16
12 Fast Break Points 2
28 Points in Paint 20
20 Fouls 18
8 Largest Lead 10

Game Information

Barclays Center

Location: Brooklyn, NY
Attendance: 7,561 · Capacity:

2025-26 Eastern Conference Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Indiana - 9 W2 0.6086956 14
Atlanta 0.5 10 W1 0.5833333 14
New York 1.5 11 L3 0.5416667 13
Washington 2 10 W1 0.52380955 11
Toronto 4 13 W1 0.4347826 10
Chicago 7 16 L2 0.3043478 7
Connecticut 9 18 L2 0.2173913 5
Full Standings

WNBA News

Lynx rookie Miles reaches 400 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists

Lynx rookie Miles reaches 400 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists

Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles scored a career-high 33, becoming the first WNBA player to reach 400 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in just 22 career games, and the Lynx defeated the Phoenix Mercury 104-100 Monday night for a third straight victory.

Kayla McBride, Olivia Miles star in the Lynx's 104-100 win over the Mercury

Kayla McBride, Olivia Miles star in the Lynx's 104-100 win over the Mercury

— Kayla McBride scored a season-high 37 points, rookie Olivia Miles had a career-high 33 and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Phoenix Mercury 104-100 on Monday night for their third straight victory.

Dream beat the Sparks 101-92 behind Angel Reese's WNBA-leading 16th double-double

Dream beat the Sparks 101-92 behind Angel Reese's WNBA-leading 16th double-double

— Angel Reese had 23 points and 13 rebounds for her WNBA-leading 16th double-double of the season, Allisha Gray added 20 points, and the Atlanta Dream beat the Los Angeles Sparks 101-92 on Monday night.