Liberty Sleep vs. Dream Sans Sabrina

NEW YORK-A dream homestand for the New York Liberty became a nightmare in a hurry.

Having fallen to the Liberty at home four nights prior, the Atlanta Dream took its revenge in the fourth quarter of a rematch at Barclays Center on Tuesday, rolling to an 86-79 victory in the middle leg of a three-game Brooklyn stretch for New York. With six players in double-figures, paced by 16 from Alisha Gray, the Dream (3-5) outscored their hosts 26-19 over the final 10 minutes to seal the deal. Atlanta led by as much as 11 in that final period, foreshadowing their comeback when Haley Jones created a 60-all deadlock with a buzzer-beating to close out the third period.

New York (6-3) played without Sabrina Ionescu, who was held out due to a tight left hamstring. The absence was described by head coach Sandy Brondello as "precautionary."

Marine Johannés, Ionescu's point guard replacement in the starting five, partly picked up the offensive slack with 18 points, just beating out Betnijah Laney, who put up a season-best 17. Breanna Stewart's scoring was relegated primarily to the foul line, as she sank only 1-of-13 from the field.

It was hardly any consolation to Stewart, but she nonetheless managed to put up another double-double, hauling in a season-best 13 rebounds.

Despite some ugly statlines and sleepy stretches that allowed Atlanta to pull in a sloppy game that featured a combined 35 fouls and 27 turnovers, the Liberty managed to linger until the very end thanks to some clutch deep shooting from Johannés. Atlanta, however, hit its free throws and took advantage of its plentiful second chances: the Dream outrebounded the Liberty 13-8 offensively and also enjoyed strong scoring from its bench. AD, the Liberty's second overall pick from the 2019 draft, was one of the double-figure scorers at 13, as was Monique Billings with 12. Billings also led the big offensive rebound tally, hauling in four of her own.

Cheyenne Parker, the only Atlanta starter who failed to reach 10 points, more than made up for it with 11 boards.

The Liberty are set for one more battle with the Dream on June 23 in Atlanta.

New York will wrap up their homestand and look to get back in the win column on Sunday afternoon in an early game against the Phoenix Mercury (12 p.m. ET, CBS).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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