Kalu books WNBA playoff spot with Atlanta Dream

D’Tigress star Ezinne Kalu made her Atlanta Dream debut on Thursday, which turned out memorable as the team defeated New York Liberty 78-67 at Barclays Centre to clinch the final WNBA playoff spot.

The 32-year-old, who had a memorable Paris 2024 Olympic Games campaign with Nigeria, featured in the second half as Tina Charles broke two WNBA records in one night, becoming the WNBA’s all-time leader in rebounds and doubles.

Ezinne achieved the milestone with Atlanta Dream a few days after she joined them to a seven-day hardship contract, which allows teams to temporarily add players when multiple roster members are unavailable due to injury, illness, or other circumstances.

Atlanta came into the game knowing they could clinch a playoff berth with a victory, while the Liberty had nothing really to play for having already sewn up the No. 1 seed.

The Dream came out strong behind Charles, who broke Sylvia Fowles’ rebound mark of 4,006 boards a few minutes into the game. She needed three coming into the game to break the record and is now up to 4,014 for her career.

Charles was honoured before the game as she was inducted into the city’s Basketball Hall of Fame along with nine other former players and coaches. Her Dream teammates were on the court cheering her on as she was announced.

She is the only WNBA player with 7,000 points and 4,000 rebounds in her career. She’s second on the career scoring list behind only Diana Taurasi.

“We came here with our bags packed. We knew we’d take care of business,” Charles said in a post-match conference reported on the official website of Atlanta Dream.

They got their wish by reaching the postseason with the win to earn the eighth seed. The two teams will meet in the postseason that begins Sunday in New York. Game 2 will be Tuesday night.

The eight-seed Dream will stay in New York to play the top-seeded Liberty in a best-of-three series, with the first two games in New York and, if required, game three in Atlanta.

This is the Dream’s second consecutive playoff appearance under head coach Tanisha Wright, who led the team to a first-round battle in last year’s playoffs against the Dallas Wings. The Dream last qualified for back-to-back postseasons in 2013 and 2014. They have made three WNBA Finals appearances and seven Conference Finals appearances since 2010.

The 2024 WNBA Playoffs are set to begin on Sept. 22, with the top eight teams in the league competing in a best-of-three series. The winners of each first-round series will advance to a best-of-five semifinal round, and the winners of each semifinal round series will then advance to the WNBA Finals, another best-of-five series.