Three keys for Liberty in first-round matchup vs. Dream

Here are three keys for the Liberty heading into their first-round playoff series vs.the Dream.

Game 1 is Sunday at 1 p.m.: The league-best Liberty (32-8) took three of four in the season series against the No.8 Dream, with the lone loss coming with nothing to Threplay for in Thursday night’s regular-season finale at Barclays Center.

Here are three keys to look for during the best-of-three first-round matchup:The Liberty advanced to the WNBA Finals before losing to Las Vegas last fall in the first year of its superteam alignment, led by former league MVPs Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones and All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu.Sandy Brondello’s star-studded squad has shown better overall depth this year, helping keep the Big 3 fresh for another extended postseason run.Brondello said she hasn’t made a final decision, but she had rookie forward Leonie Fiebich working with the starting unit during the portion of Saturday’s practice that was open to the media, in place of guard Courtney Vandersloot.

That could give the Liberty first unit more size to combat a Dream team that scored 46 points in the paint in its win Thursday at Barclays Center.Sign up for Starting Lineup for the biggest stories.

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Never miss a story.Dream forward Tina Charles, a Queens native, was a five-time All-Star with the Libs from 2014-19.

Jones and the Liberty bigs need to keep the 35-year-old Christ the King product — and the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder — off the glass after she finished fourth in the league with 9.6 boards per game during the regular season.— Peter Botte...