Bre Throws: Stewart Helps Liberty Down Dream

NEW YORK-Forced to play seven games over the final 13 days of July, the New York Liberty have barely had any time to sleep.

Perhaps it's appropriate that disrupted a group known as the Atlanta Dream on Thursday night at Barclays Center.

More metropolitan history awaited Breanna Stewart in the penultimate game of a speedy four-game homestand, one that saw the Liberty take home a XX-XX decision from the streaking Dream. Stewart, earner of a 33-point, 12-rebound double-double, became the fastest New Yorker to earn 500 points in a single season with a three-pointer that opened scoring. By visiting the foul line on 16 occasions, she also tied the record she already shared with Kia Nurse.

That opening triple was the first of 11 consecutive points for the Liberty (18-5), who led wire-to-wire en route to their fourth consecutive victory. New York led by as much as 18 and staved off an Atlanta group partly energized by the return of Aari McDonald, who put in 14 points off the bench. The Dream (13-11) inched back into the game and got as close as five in the second half, but the Liberty had answers every step of the way, such as Betnijah Laney scoring all but two of her 14 points in the final frame.

Stewart was joined in the double-double sisterhood by Jonquel Jones, who had her fourth in a row with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu, fresh off her serendipitous statline on Tuesday against Seattle, fell just one assist short of getting one of her own after scoring 12 more points.

Allisha Gray tallied 25 points in defeat for the Dream, who previously topped the Liberty at Braclays Center last month. It was Atlanta's lone win in the four-game series with New York taking both in the Peach State.

The Liberty's quartet at home concludes on Friday night when they welcome in the Minnesota Lynx (8 p.m. ET, Ion). Minnesota's visit was originally scheduled for June 7 but was postponed due to atmospheric haze created by Canadian wildfires.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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