The semifinals of the 2026 WNBA playoffs got underway on Sunday when the Atlanta Dream used a dominant third quarter to surge past the New York Liberty for a 92-82 win. They lost star guard Allisha Gray to a hand injury in the process, however, and her status for the rest of the series is unclear. Out in the Bay Area, Game 1 between the Golden State Valkyries and the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces is underway.
As that action continues, here are some winners and losers from Dream vs. Canada has long been one of the most reliable point guards in the league, but has generally flown under the radar on a national level. That will change if she keeps playing like she did on Sunday, which continued a stellar showing to begin the playoffs.
Gray only played 11 minutes due to a hand injury and Rhyne Howard shot 5 of 20. You would have assumed a comfortable Liberty win under those circumstances, but Canada picked up the scoring slack while still providing her usual level of fiesty perimeter defense. Canada finished with 25 points -- tied for the third-highest scoring game of her entire career, regular season or playoffs -- on 9 of 14 from the field to go along with four assists and five steals.
A 29.2% 3-point shooter during the regular season, Canada shot 4 of 6 from behind the arc, which tied a season-high and helped the Dream stay just about even in that department against a much better shooting Liberty team. On the defensive end, Canada played a major role in forcing 21 Liberty turnovers, which the Dream turned into a whopping 32 points. In the game-changing third quarter, which the Dream won, 32-15, Canada had three different steals that she turned into layups on the other end.
No team was better at forcing turnovers in the regular season than the Dream, who led the league with a 19.5% opponent turnover rate. The Liberty, meanwhile, had an 18.2% turnover rate in the regular season, which was tied for the third-worst mark. Perhaps it wasn't surprising, then, that turnovers decided the game.
The Liberty turned the ball over 21 times, which led directly to 32 Dream points. That was tied for the most turnovers the Liberty have had in a game this season, while the Dream's 32 points off turnovers were tied for their fourth-most in that category this season. The turnovers helped the Dream outscore the Liberty 18-0 in fastbreak points in a 10-point victory.
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