Dream and Liberty open WNBA semifinal in Atlanta

The Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty are set to open a best-of-five WNBA semifinal Sunday, October 4, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, with the Dream holding home-court advantage. Both teams swept their first-round playoff opponents, and the series winner will advance to the WNBA Finals. The supplied reports preview the opener but do not provide a game result. Atlanta earned the higher seed after finishing fourth in the regular season and sweeping the Washington Mystics. New York, the No. 8 seed, swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, becoming the first No. 8 seed in WNBA history to eliminate a No. 1 seed. The Liberty reached the semifinals for the third time in four years, while Atlanta is back in the round for the first time since 2018. The teams’ regular-season series finished 2-1 in Atlanta’s favor. New York won their reported June meeting, while the Dream took the two most recent matchups. Accounts differ on the circumstances of the last game: one says Breanna Stewart sat out, while another describes New York playing on a demanding schedule before the pair of Atlanta victories.