How Dream can upset Liberty in first round of 2024 WNBA Playoffs

09/21/2024 12:43 PM

The Atlanta Dream are back in the playoffs for the second straight season as they begin their road to a WNBA championship. The New York Liberty, who is arguably the best team in the league, will stand in the way of their aspirations. For the past few weeks, the Dream have been battling to get the No. 8 seed, and every game down the stretch must have felt like the playoffs. With that mentality, they should already be prepared to face a high-powered Liberty team.

The Liberty are of course the favorite to win the series, and the championship, but like everyone knows in sports, upsets are a part of the game. For the Dream, they have the chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the playoffs, and this is how they can do it.

Rhyne Howard has to get hot

Rhyne Howard has shown throughout this year and her career that when she gets hot, it’s hard to stop her. She went on a run this season where she scored 30+ points in three straight games, and if she can do that again, she can make the series interesting. Toward the end of the season, Howard mentioned that she was prepared to have more playoff experience, and the opportunity is here.

"It is starting to get to that time, and I've only had one taste of the playoffs, so I'm looking to have more, but I know what it's going to take and I know what I have to do to get there,” Howard said.

Sometimes, all it takes is your best player to win a game. The Dream have several other options that can lead them to victory, but when it comes down to it, Howard is the key.

Limit one of the Liberty’s Big 3

The New York Liberty are led by Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones, and they’ve been the biggest cause of the team’s success. It’ll be hard to stop any of them, but if you can contain them, you can stay in the game. Having all three go off would be a recipe for disaster, but one or two could give you a chance. In their last regular season game, the Dream were able to hold Ionescu to 1-of-8 shooting, and though she only played 22 minutes, it’s a nice sample size to show what they’ll need to do.

The Dream’s second unit must step up

The Dream’s starting unit had been playing a lot of minutes down the stretch of the regular season, and they’ll need some help as they go through the playoffs. With injuries to Cheyenne Parker-Tyus and Aerial Powers, the Dream has had to go deep into their bench to find production. The last two regular games were big for the bench, and they’ll have to carry that play into the first round to give the starters some help.

Maya Caldwell will have to be the scoring punch off the bench, Haley Jones will have to put her teammates in position to get points, and Nia Coffey and Lorel Cubaj will be the defensive help that the team needs.

Win Game 1

If the Dream can come in on Game 1 and show that they’re ready to battle the best team in the WNBA, winning Game 1 could give them all the confidence in the world. In a best-of-3 series, winning one game means a lot, because winning the next one means you’re on to the next series. Getting the first game also gives you some cushion to drop the next game, and in the Dream’s scenario, they can go back to Atlanta in Game 3 in front of their fans and have homecourt advantage.

It will be a tough challenge, but sometimes all you need to see is one go in.

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