The Atlanta Dream needed extra time. The Golden State Valkyries took care of business (barely!) in regulation.
Now both teams are a win away from advancing to the WNBA Finals.
The No. 4 seed Dream beat the No. 8 seed New York Liberty 101-98 in overtime on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in their WNBA playoff semifinal series. In the nightcap, No. 2 Golden State held off the No. 3 Las Vegas Aces 83-81 in San Francisco to put the defending WNBA champions on the brink of elimination.
Both best-of-five series shift, with New York and Las Vegas hosting must-win games Friday. The Liberty host the Dream at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2) at Barclays Center; the Aces host the Valkyries in Game 3 at Michelob ULTRA Arena at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Atlanta played Wednesday without injured starting guard Allisha Gray, who suffered an injury to her left (shooting) hand in Game 1. She is day-to-day.
ESPN was courtside in Atlanta and the Bay Area to break down how the Dream beat the Liberty despite 35 points from Breanna Stewart, and how a two-year-old franchise handed the Aces just their fourth back-to-back losses of this season.
MORE: Game 1 analysis | Playoff schedule
(2) Golden State Valkyries 83,
(3) Las Vegas Aces 81
How Golden State won the game: The Valkyries are making a habit of having a different player off the bench change the game on any given night. In Game 2, it was Tiffany Hayes. The veteran guard finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Golden State's depth can hide off nights from its stars. Veronica Burton, who was benched in the third quarter of Game 1, finished with just eight points Wednesday. But another big night from Gabby Williams -- 20 points, with three 3-pointers -- and 18 points from Kayla Thornton helped compensate for Burton.
The Valkyries held a 16-point lead midway through the second quarter, but the Aces managed to cut it to eight by halftime. Then Golden State built another lead in the third -- this time by 17. Once again, the Aces chipped away. In the fourth quarter, Las Vegas found new life and took the lead with about 90 seconds left. A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray combined for 43 points in the game, but the Valkyries had just enough left to secure the win.
Even though the Aces made it a game, the control the Valkyries took early was a direct carryover from how they played Game 1. Their defense set the tone -- and everything else followed.
What it means for Golden State: The Valkyries are one win away from advancing to the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. That's especially impressive given Golden State only joined the league ahead of the 2025 season. But to do it against the defending champions would be otherworldly. The Valkyries can sweep the Aces if they capture Game 3.
Keys to Game 3: The Aces need more scoring, more defense, more effort. Heading into Game 2, they were adamant they would up their level of physicality and make the Valkyries feel them. But they failed to do so. They finally got production from players other than Wilson and Gray -- Jackie Young finished with 14 points and Stephanie Talbot had 10 in her first game back. Yes, they balled back from a 17-point deficit to take the lead late. But it took too long for them to find what worked. If Vegas wants to stave off elimination, the Aces need to punch first -- because working from behind hasn't been successful in this series. -- Kendra Andrews
(4) Atlanta Dream 101,
(8) New York Liberty 98 OT
How Atlanta won the game: New York shot 55% from the field but it wasn't enough to get the win because it had so many fewer possessions or chances, taking 20 fewer shots than the Dream. Turnovers continued to plague the Liberty in Game 2, and the Dream capitalized, scoring 28 points off 17 turnovers -- no miscue as detrimental as when Sabrina Ionescu sailed a pass out of bounds toward the end of overtime with the Liberty down one. Jordin Canada won the battle of the point guards, scoring or assisting on 45 of Atlanta's 101 points.
Stewart did all she could, particularly in the first half, scoring 25 of New York's 54 points -- the second most in a first half of a WNBA playoff game. But the Liberty barely got any offensive contributions outside of Stewart, Jonquel Jones (21) and Marine Fauthoux (20). Fauthoux's heroics -- a massive 3-pointer -- forced overtime. Atlanta had a balanced effort with six players scoring in double figures, tying a Dream franchise playoff record. That included Isobel Borlase off the bench with 11 points.
The Liberty also were hurt by shooting 16-for-23 from the free throw line. The Dream were much more accurate by making 21 of 23 attempts.
In overtime, it felt like the first team to make a mistake would lose, and that ended up being New York: The Dream forced a jump ball with 11.7 seconds left after collapsing on Jones. Then Ionescu's bad turnover on an ensuing drive after the Liberty retained possession sealed New York's fate.
A controversial ending: New York did not call timeout on its final possession. After the game, Stewart said in the postgame news conference that the officials told her the team did not have a reset timeout -- when they actually had one. "This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout at the end, and they tell us no, and then we leave the game with the reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating," Stewart said.
During overtime, each team receives two team timeouts and one reset timeout, which allows the team to advance the ball without huddling on the sideline.
As part of the postgame pool report, the crew chief denied that any official had told Stewart or any Liberty coaching staff members that New York did not have a reset timeout available.
The Liberty have made an official inquiry with the league into the situation, a source told ESPN
What the victory means for the Dream: Atlanta takes a commanding 2-0 lead to Brooklyn. The Dream now have three chances to win the series and advance to their first Finals since 2013. Throughout WNBA history, teams that take a 2-0 lead of a best-of-five series have a series record of 19-0.
Keys to Game 3: Can the Liberty stop committing turnovers and letting the Dream convert them? Can someone slow Canada? Back on their home floor and in front of their raucous fans, can the Liberty play with some pride to avoid a sweep? -- Alexa Philippou