New York’s crew faced inquiries all week about live-ball turnovers and combating the steal-happy Dream’s perimeter players. They faced each other twice two weeks ago in the final week of the regular season. They should have, and did, know the foe at hand.
“They have a lot of speed, and they’re very good [at] — I don’t want to call them gambles because they take the right risks when they do try to get steals,” DeMarco said two hours before tipoff.
The Dream tied the WNBA postseason record for points off turnovers with 32 off 21. It provided one-third of their offense. Jordin Canada, namedropped by DeMarco as a defensive problem, had five steals.
And yet, the Liberty were still in it at the end enough that newly awarded Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese wanted a timeout to settle her team and close out a win.