Atlanta Dream Beat Liberty, 81-72 At McCamish In Midtown

ATLANTA, GA -- The Atlanta Dream defeated the New York Liberty on Sunday 81-72, climbing back toward .500 after some recent losses. Brittany Sykes finished the game with a career-high 19 rebounds.

The Liberty tried to stage a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, powered by Sugar Rodgers, who hit three straight 3-point shots in the final stanza after missing the previous game with a back injury. Rodgers finished with 11 points for New York. She also matched her season-high of seven rebounds.

In addition to Sykes, four other Dream players finished in double-figures: Layshia Clarendon (15), Tiffany Hayes (11), Bria Holmes (11) and Elizabeth Williams (10). (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the Midtown Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Dream Coach Michael Cooper said that when Atlanta spreads the ball around, it turns out well.

“We’re always successful when we do that [have multiple players in double figures]. Earlier in the season we were having five and six people in double figures and that helps you a lot because you’re moving the basketball, everyone’s involved on offense and it’s fun to play that way.”

The Dream opened a double-figure lead in the opening stanza, leading 27-16 after the first quarter. That total was the most points the Liberty had given up in the first quarter all season. New York's offensive troubles continued as the team scored fewer than 20 points in the first quarter for the fourth time in their last five games.

Cooper said that Atlanta's defense should get the credit for New York's slow start.

“What we try to do as a coaching staff is simplify our game plan. I thought the zone really worked against this team, jumping in and out of it seemed to throw them off a little bit which enabled us to do what we do well and that’s to get down the floor in transition.”

Sykes said that she was due for a breakout game and it came at the right time. "It’s just a credit to my teammates. They’ve stayed in my ear these past couple practices and during this losing streak to just stay positive and stay patient and just do what I do best. That’s staying in transitions and giving my team energy on defense.”

Clarendon said that she's been hard on herself recently, but decided to play free and loose -- to good results. “I’ve just been struggling the last couple games and started overthinking things a little bit. You know when you get in that rut of losing, that’s when you really need to get in that attack mode and getting back to what I know how to do which is drive through the lane and draw fouls.”

Liberty Coach Bill Laimbeer said that it's up to him to find a way out of his team's offensive struggles.

"We’ve been working on our defense. We’re playing better defense these days than we have. Last two games have been an offensive struggle that we’re going to have to address now. We’ve been playing offensive ball the past two games, but we’ll continue to work on our defense.”

The Dream next play the Dallas Wings on Wednesday, July 5 in Arlington, Texas.

Image via Pixabay