Thirteen years is a long time to carry a dream, and yet the Atlanta Dream find themselves one victory away from reclaiming a place on women's basketball's grandest stage. On Wednesday night in Atlanta, Naz Hillmon's quiet layup with twenty seconds left in overtime spoke louder than any crowd noise, lifting the Dream past the defending champion New York Liberty, 101-98, and into the threshold of something long awaited. The series now travels to Brooklyn, where history and elimination share the same floor.
Dream one win from Finals after OT victory over Liberty
One win from their first Finals in thirteen years
Mark
So the Dream are one win away from the Finals. That's a big deal for a franchise that hasn't been there in over a decade. What does this moment feel like for Atlanta?
Mimi
It's the culmination of something they've been building toward. They came into this series as the higher seed, and they've executed at home. Reese and Canada both scored 23—that's balanced scoring. But the real story is they did it without their leading scorer.
Luke
Right, but let's be precise about Gray. She's day-to-day, not ruled out for Game 3. We don't actually know if she'll play in Brooklyn. And while the bench stepped up in Game 2, we should note that Game 1 was also without her for most of it—so this isn't a new problem, it's a continuing one.
Mark
The Liberty are the defending champs, though. Breanna Stewart had 35 points. How do you lose that game?
Mimi
Stewart was excellent, but she couldn't get enough help. Ionescu hit a big three late in regulation, but then she turned it over in overtime. The Liberty had their chances—they cut it to one point—but Atlanta's depth and composure in the extra period was the difference.
Luke
That's fair, but I'd add: the Liberty also had an Atlanta shot-clock violation with 31 seconds left in regulation that gave them a possession they probably shouldn't have gotten. Small margins in playoff basketball. Stewart's 35 points is real, but it also means no one else was scoring enough.
Mark
So Friday in Brooklyn—what does New York need to do?
Mimi
They need to win at home, obviously. They're facing elimination. But more than that, they need to find another scorer. Stewart can't carry them alone against this Dream team.
Luke
And Atlanta needs to either get Gray back or prove they can win without her. If she plays Friday, that changes the calculus. If she doesn't, Atlanta has now won two playoff games without their leading scorer, which is impressive but also a vulnerability the Liberty might exploit.
The Pulse
- Angel Reese, freshly crowned Defensive Player of the Year, refused to let Atlanta's overtime moment slip away — scoring six of the Dream's thirteen extra-period points and sealing the win at the free-throw line.
- Breanna Stewart poured in 35 points for New York, but a desperation final shot rimmed out, leaving the defending champions staring down elimination after dropping both home games.
- The Dream are doing this without Allisha Gray — their leading scorer and four-time All-Star — who left Game 1 with a hand injury and remains day-to-day, making Atlanta's depth the quiet story of the series.
- New York clawed back from six down in the final two minutes of regulation, forcing overtime on a Stewart layup, but the Liberty could not sustain the momentum when it mattered most.
- Game 3 at Barclays Center on Friday becomes a crossroads: Atlanta can clinch their first Finals berth since 2013, while New York must win or go home as defending champions.
Thirteen years is a long time to carry a dream, and yet the Atlanta Dream find themselves one victory away from reclaiming a place on women's basketball's grandest stage. On Wednesday night in Atlanta, Naz Hillmon's quiet layup with twenty seconds left in overtime spoke louder than any crowd noise, lifting the Dream past the defending champion New York Liberty, 101-98, and into the threshold of something long awaited. The series now travels to Brooklyn, where history and elimination share the same floor.
Naz Hillmon's go-ahead layup with 20.8 seconds left in overtime, followed by Angel Reese's two clutch free throws off a Sabrina Ionescu turnover, gave the Atlanta Dream a 101-98 victory over the New York Liberty on Wednesday night. The win puts Atlanta up 2-0 in the WNBA semifinals — one game away from their first Finals appearance since 2013.
Reese, named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, led Atlanta with 23 points, while Jordin Canada added 23 of her own and dished eight assists. The Liberty's Breanna Stewart was brilliant with 35 points, but her final desperation heave missed, and New York's championship defense now hangs by a thread.
The road to overtime was anything but comfortable. Atlanta led 86-80 with under two minutes in regulation before Ionescu hit a deep three, a Dream shot-clock violation handed New York another possession, and Stewart converted a contested layup to force the extra period at 86-85.
Making the victory more remarkable was the absence of Allisha Gray, Atlanta's leading scorer and a four-time All-Star, who injured her left hand in Game 1 and never returned. It was the first game she had missed all season. Gray is listed day-to-day for Game 3, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn — where the Dream will try to close out a defending champion fighting for its season.
The Atlanta Dream stood one victory away from their first WNBA Finals appearance in thirteen years after Naz Hillmon's layup with 20.8 seconds remaining in overtime lifted them past the defending champion New York Liberty, 101-98, on Wednesday night. The Dream's home crowd erupted as Hillmon converted the go-ahead basket, and when Angel Reese made two free throws with less than five seconds left—the result of Sabrina Ionescu's turnover—Atlanta had secured a 2-0 stranglehold on the semifinal series.
Reese, named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, finished with 23 points and accounted for six of Atlanta's thirteen overtime points. Jordin Canada matched her scoring output and distributed eight assists, anchoring a Dream offense that had already won Game 1 by ten points, 92-82. The Liberty, seeking to defend their championship, could not overcome the deficit despite Breanna Stewart's 35-point performance. Stewart's desperation attempt on the game's final play missed, leaving New York facing elimination.
The path to overtime revealed how tightly contested the matchup had become. With the Dream leading 86-80 and less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Ionescu buried a three-pointer from deep to cut the margin to three. An Atlanta shot-clock violation thirty-one seconds later handed the Liberty another chance, and Stewart finished a contested layup through traffic to make it 86-85, forcing the extra period.
Atlanta's victory came without Allisha Gray, the Dream's leading scorer and a four-time All-Star. Gray suffered a left-hand injury during the first quarter of Game 1 and did not return after a second incident while diving for a loose ball. The injury marked the first game Gray had missed all season, yet the Dream's bench depth proved sufficient to overcome her absence. Gray is listed as day-to-day heading into Game 3, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The series now shifts to New York, where the Liberty must win to stay alive. Atlanta's path to the Finals—their first since 2013—runs through Brooklyn, where they will attempt to close out a defending champion team that has already lost both games at home.
Notable Quotes
Angel Reese, the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, scored 23 points, including six of Atlanta's 13 points in overtime.— Game summary
Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 35 points, but she missed a desperation attempt on the game's final play.— Game summary
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