Liberty shut down Olivia Miles in first round -- now they must do the same with Dream's playmakers

Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News on Oct 2, 2026

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NEW YORK — The Liberty’s historic first-round upset became possible after effectively stopping Minnesota’s head of the snake: Olivia Miles.

Beginning in Sunday’s Game 1 of the second-round series against the Dream in Atlanta, the challenge shifts to a trio of backcourt players capable of wrecking a game: Jordin Canada, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard.

All three Dream players possess skill sets to form a “really good combination,” said Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich, who surely will be tasked with slowing down the trio throughout the upcoming five-game series.

Not to mention, the Dream can rebound with the best of them with Angel Reese crashing the glass at historic rates.

“And then you have rebounding from the bigs. I think it’s the overall combination. As a shooter right, you get a second chance if your big looks for you after an [offensive rebound],” Fiebich said.

“It’s the easiest shot you can get.”

The best Liberty defense for the Dream’s playmakers could be their offense.

The Dream easily swept the Washington Mystics, turning defense into offense and running in transition — principles shown throughout the season for Karl Smesko’s team.

Atlanta scored 27 points off turnovers in their Game 1 win, then logged 23 more in the clinching victory.

Canada, Gray and Howard are often sparking live-ball turnovers with their willingness to stay in passing lanes and pressure the ball up top.

Then, the points can come in numerous way: Canada pushes the pace to put defenses on their heels and in a blender; Gray makes her money by going downhill while able to knock down an outside shot (4 of 10 on 3-pointers in the first round); and Howard, who averaged 20.5 points on 42.3% in Round 1, seizes any opportunity as a three-level scorer.

It’s on Chris DeMarco and his staff to draw up a successful gameplan — like they did against Minnesota — to slow down the Dream trio.

“I think it’s more about what our defensive principles are and what we want to do on a nightly basis versus who we’re playing against,” Jonquel Jones said when asked if a similar scheme used against the Lynx’s offense can carry over to Round 2. “But we do understand that their guard play is what really drives them, and very similar to Minnesota.. … We understand that our defensive principles, our foundation, is going to be the thing that sets us aside.”

“I think the pace that [Atlanta] were playing with [in the first round] was really good. I think [DeWanna Bonner] brought a lot of veteran leadership to them, a lot of timely scoring to really settle them into games. I think Howard and Gray are just two really good — or great guards that we have to slow down. When the game gets tough, they kind of put their heads down and kind of take over that scoring.”

Canada, who averaged 14.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 10.5 assists and 2.5 steals in the opening round, sets the tone for Atlanta’s offense.

She did the same during the Dream’s final two regular-season wins over Liberty last month.

And even with the Liberty riding the success of shutting down an opponent’s backcourt in the opening round, they know a different test awaits.

“Canada is a little bit faster than Miles, so we might not be able to pick her up full court as much as we did with Miles. It’s gonna be a challenge,” said Fiebich, who added Canada gets down the court “in like two seconds.”

“I think we’re used to it. I think it’s good that we played them like just recently just to remember that and just got to contain her.”

Fiebich — along with Pauline Astier and Rebekah Gardner — stayed connected with the Rookie of the Year before crossing halfcourt. It hindered her ability to accelerate pace and find open teammates on looks.

The same kind of roadblock would affect Canada’s chances of making sure she can have big games along with Howard and Gray being successful too.

“I think that Jordan’s playing really well. Trying to not let her kind of see the floor the way that she does. Not [letting] her be able to make the reads, but forcing her to have one choice and one decision …”

“Atlanta will be a tough one for us.”