The Atlanta Dream head to New York to face the Liberty on Tuesday with at least one stat in mind.
The Liberty have scored more than 100 points in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. They defeated the Dream 106-83 in Atlanta on Friday and topped the Dallas Wings 102-93 at home on Sunday.
New York leads the WNBA in 3-point percentage (37.7), total 3-pointers (81) and assists per game (24.5).
Much of this is due to the addition of three stars who joined the Liberty this season: 2018 league MVP Breanna Stewart, six-time WNBA assists leader Courtney Vandersloot and 2021 league MVP Jonquel Jones. All three of them are four-time All-Stars.
Stewart, a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, ranks second in the league in scoring (24.9), third in blocks (2.1) and third in steals (1.9).
Vandersloot leads the league in assists (9.3).
Then there’s Sabrina Ionescu, the first overall pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the Liberty. She leads the league in 3-pointers made (27) and scored a career-high 37 points on Friday when the Liberty defeated Atlanta.
Ionescu made a franchise-record eight 3-pointers in that game as the Liberty (6-2) are starting to mesh.
“As this group has come together,” Stewart said, “we’re having an awareness of where one another is, the spots.”
The Dream (2-5), meanwhile, enter Tuesday on a three-game losing streak.
Atlanta has wasted an early season schedule that was heavier on home games (1-4) than road contests (1-1), and will play its next four on the road.
The Dream are led by wing Rhyne Howard, power forward Cheyenne Parker and guard Allisha Gray.
Howard, the league’s first overall pick in 2022 out of Kentucky, averaged 16.2 points last season and was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year. This year, she is averaging 16.7 points, and she became the first WNBA player to get to 100 career 3-pointers in 40 or fewer games on Friday.
“Okay, I made history,” Howard said after the loss to New York. “But I don’t think about that during a game.”
Parker, a New York City native, will be making a homecoming. She is averaging 16.9 points, which puts her on career-high pace.
–Field Level Media
