The Atlanta Dream doesn’t mess around in the third quarter.

Atlanta put together another dominant period to open the second half and carry it to a crucial 92-82 Game 1 victory over the New York Liberty in their best-of-five WNBA playoffs semifinal on Sunday at State Farm Arena.

“A great way to start the series,” Dream Head Coach Karl Smesko said.

The Dream used a suffocating defense in the third to turn a three-point gap into a 14-point lead. It will try to continue its third-period hot streak in Wednesday’s Game 2 at home.

Atlanta won despite Allisha Gray leaving in the second quarter because of a hand injury. Smesko said he didn’t have an update on her injury but hoped she would return for Game 2.

Jordin Canada, who played with foul trouble, led Atlanta with 25 points, five steals to tie a franchise postseason record, and four assists.

“We just roll her way,” DeWanna Bonner said of Canada. “She’s the head of the snake on offense and defense.”

Rhyne Howard played point while Canada sat and finished with 16 points, eight assists, and eight rebounds. Bonner came off the bench to score 23 points and grab nine rebounds. Angel Reese added 17 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.

“She had a huge impact on this game,” New York Head Coach Chris DeMarco said of Bonner.

Defensively, Atlanta forced 21 turnovers that it turned into 32 points.

Gray hurt her hand in the first quarter which required her to go to the locker room. She returned and then appeared to hurt her hand again after diving for a loose ball in the second quarter. She was subbed out with 3:44 remaining and didn’t return. Canada subbed in.

“You never want to see your teammate go down,” Canada said. “We told her that we had her back. We said that at halftime. We said that going into the third quarter. Everybody pulled together and did their job.”

Despite their starting backcourt missing minutes in the first half, Atlanta trailed just 40-37 at halftime. The Dream shot 34.3% in the half and were outrebounded by six. New York shot 43.8%.

“DB got into us at halftime,” Canada said. “We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half. We gave up a lot of defensive assignments: not aggressive enough on offense and defense.”

Atlanta has owned third quarters during its seven-game win streak. Smesko said at halftime the players had already begun talking about what they needed to fix before he addressed them.

 That continued into this victory.

With Bonner in for Gray, Atlanta forced two turnovers in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Those fueled a 13-0 run and a 52-43 Atlanta lead. Bonner, after going to the line to try to complete a three-point play, casually pointed up, urging the fans to cheer even louder. They did.

“We knew the first three minutes would be really important,” Canada said.

Atlanta built a 69-55 lead going into the fourth quarter. It scored 32 points in the quarter, including forcing nine turnovers that it turned into 16 points. In its previous seven games, it averaged 26.3 points and forced 4.6 turnovers, turning them into 5.9 points.

The Dream’s lead was cut to five on a layup by Breanna Stewart with 2:50 remaining.

Reese answered with a hook shot just before the shot clock buzzed, pushing Atlanta’s lead to 84-77 with 2:24 remaining.

Atlanta forced Sabrina Ionescu into a travel violation on the Liberty’s next possession.

Canada poured in a corner 3-pointer to give the Dream a 10-point lead with 1:30 left.

New York again cut Atlanta’s lead to five with 51 seconds left. Howard hit one of two free throws. Canada added a layup to ice the game.

“DB and JC had huge plays and huge games,” Smesko said. “It’s great to be up 1-0, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Game 2 is set for Wednesday at 7:30 pm at State Farm Arena.  Tickets are on sale now.