Atlanta Dream sweep Mystics, will host Liberty in semifinals

The Atlanta Dream are headed to the WNBA semifinals, and their next two playoff games will bring the series to downtown Atlanta.

Atlanta beat the Washington Mystics 93–75 on Wednesday, Sept. 30, completing a two-game first-round sweep. The Dream will face the New York Liberty in a best-of-five series that opens Sunday, Oct. 4, at State Farm Arena.

According to the Dream’s game recap, Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 22 points, while Jordin Canada finished with 19 points and 11 assists. A 13–0 run in the fourth quarter helped Atlanta put the game away at CareFirst Arena.

The team said the win secured its first semifinal appearance since 2018 and its first postseason series victory since 2016.

Atlanta will have home-court advantage

The WNBA’s playoff bracket pairs fourth-seeded Atlanta with eighth-seeded New York. The Liberty reached this round by sweeping the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 2–0.

Atlanta’s higher seed gives the Dream the first two games at home, plus a potential deciding fifth game. New York hosts the third game and, if necessary, the fourth.

For local fans, the venue is an important detail: the Dream’s home games in this series are at State Farm Arena. The team also used the downtown arena for its HBCU and Divine Nine night earlier in September.

Dream–Liberty semifinal schedule

The Dream’s Wednesday night announcement listed the following dates and locations. Tipoff times and television assignments were still to be announced.

Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 4, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Game 2: Wednesday, Oct. 7, at State Farm Arena.
Game 3: Friday, Oct. 9, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Game 4, if needed: Sunday, Oct. 11, at Barclays Center.
Game 5, if needed: Wednesday, Oct. 14, at State Farm Arena.

Tickets for the first two home games are on sale through the Dream’s official website. Fans making plans should check the team’s listings for the final game times and broadcast information.

The first team to three wins will advance to the WNBA Finals, which the league’s bracket lists as beginning Oct. 17.

Featured image: State Farm Arena in 2019, not Wednesday’s game. Photo by Warren LeMay / Wikimedia Commons, CC0. Source image cropped and rotated; resized and cropped for display.