ATLANTA — The Liberty passed their biggest test yet Thursday night, beating the Atlanta Dream 104-90.
“We were just ready,” Marine Johannès said after the Liberty extended their win streak to six. “We knew that it was a tough game, like, a hard game for us, so [we] just executed the game plan.”
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tRY IT NOWThat they did.
New York had been building toward a night like this. The Dream have been one of the best teams in the league to start the season. They’re relentless on the glass and lethal in transition.
But the Liberty collectively put together one of their best performances of the season from the coaching staff through the end of the bench.
It was a full-team effort. Five Liberty players reached double-digit scoring.
Marine Johannes, who scored 17 points, goes up for a layup during the Liberty’s 104-90 win over the Liberty on June 11, 2026 in Atlanta. NBAE via Getty ImagesNew York punished the league’s best rebounding team on the glass, 40-24. The Dream boast one of the league’s best perimeter defenses, but the Liberty managed to sink 16 of 31 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Liberty have been tested multiple times already this season. A three-game home losing skid had Breanna Stewart & Co. steaming with frustration. They knew learning a new system was going to take time, but Stewart said she didn’t expect them to face the early-season adversity it had.
The entire time, though, coach Chris DeMarco has been preaching patience as he’s worked with fluctuating lineups with players being in and out. The Liberty are still without Sabrina Ionescu, who missed her seventh consecutive game because of a sore back.
But the Liberty turned things around to close their longest homestand this season with four consecutive wins before they took the show on the road, beating Connecticut on Monday before outlasting the Dream on Thursday.
Pauline Astier, who scored 16 points, looks to make a pass in front of Jordin Canada during the Liberty’s road win over the Dream. Dale Zanine-Imagn ImagesThe Liberty’s offense looked in sync, making the right movements and finding the open player. Defensively, New York exploited the Dream’s non-shooters and dared Naz Hillmon and Angel Reese to shoot.
The Liberty made the Dream’s life difficult all night.
It was a weird, choppy first half. Several lengthy reviews had the game on pause for minutes.
New York committed seven turnovers in the second quarter alone, but still managed to take a 51-44 lead at halftime thanks to a deep 3-pointer by Johannès followed by a banked-in, 53-foot, buzzer-beating heave by Pauline Astier.
“Ending the first half with Pauline’s 3 is something great for the energy,” Johannès said. “Stewie talked to us and was saying that we have to play like we are losing. We have to play like we are losing but we have to execute much better and just play hard.”
When Betnijah Laney-Hamilton didn’t have it going in the first half, DeMarco pulled her and then reintroduced her to the game with 6:13 left in the third quarter. New York went on a 22-8 run to close the third and took a 16-point lead entering the fourth.
No lead ever feels truly safe, especially after the Knicks pulled off the historic 29-point deficit to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
The Dream are also the best fourth-quarter team in the league.
Atlanta made a few runs, but the Liberty made counter adjustments.
“Our effort has been incredible,” DeMarco said. “We can live with some of the mistakes if we’re playing as hard as we are.”
The Liberty more likely than not spoiled Atlanta’s dream of contending for this year’s Commissioner’s Cup crown.
New York Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco reacts during the game against the Atlanta Dream during the first half at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Dale Zanine-Imagn ImagesDream coach Karl Smesko had called Thursday a “must win” for his team. But the Liberty outplayed them.
New York improved to 4-0 in Cup play and now owns the head-to-head matchup with the Dream, who dropped to 3-2.
Winning another Commissioner’s Cup trophy is not out of the question.
“We want to make sure that … over the next six games, we try to win them all, just so that our growth as a team is continuing to kind of be upward,” Stewart said. “Of course, knowing that we would have an opportunity in the Commissioner’s Cup championship, it shows that we’re one of the best teams in the halfway point of the season.”
