Dream and Valkyries One Win From the Finals — and the Liberty Got Burned by the Whistle

Two games. Two classics. Two teams one win from the WNBA Finals. And one officiating mess that might genuinely decide a series. Wednesday night was supposed to be about Game 2 adjustments — instead the Dream needed overtime to survive the Liberty 101-98 in Atlanta, the Valkyries needed a go-ahead three from the unlikeliest source to beat the Aces 83-81 in San Francisco, and Breanna Stewart spent her postgame explaining how the officials told her team it didn’t have a timeout it very much had.

The timeout that wasn’t

Start with the ending, because it’s the part everyone will be talking about until Friday. Down three with 4.3 seconds left in overtime, Angel Reese at the free-throw line, Stewart walked over to referee Kevin Fahy and asked a simple question: do we have our reset timeout? The reset is the WNBA rule that lets a team advance the ball to halfcourt in the final two minutes without huddling at the bench — the difference between a clean look and a full-court prayer. Fahy said he’d check with the table. He went to crew chief Fatou Cissoko-Stephens. He came back with an answer: no.

So the Liberty inbounded under their own basket, went the length of the floor, and Stewart’s 32-foot heave fell short. Dream 101, Liberty 98. Season on the brink.

Here’s the problem: the Liberty did have their reset. They had used both regular timeouts in overtime — one burned on a lost coach’s challenge — but the reset was sitting there untouched. They finished the game with it in their pocket. “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 a reset timeout, it’s pretty frustrating,” Stewart said. “Yeah, OK, I kind of got a good look at the end, but we would just love to have some clarity on that situation.”

It gets messier. In the pool report, Cissoko-Stephens said Stewart was standing right behind Fahy when he confirmed with his partner between Reese’s free throws that New York did have a reset remaining. So the crew chief says yes, the other official relayed no, and the player got the no. Head coach Chris DeMarco confirmed the bench heard the same thing: “They said we didn’t have it.” Even Dream coach Karl Smesko was surprised: “I thought they had a timeout left, but they played it out the way they did. So I was expecting it to be advanced, but it wasn’t. Fortunately, we were able to get the stop.” The Liberty have filed an official inquiry with the league, per ESPN. Our full Game 2 recap has the whole wild finish.

Stewart’s masterpiece, wasted

Before the controversy, there was the performance. Stewart was otherworldly: 35 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists — the first player in WNBA playoff history to hit 35/10/5. Her 25 first-half points on 80%+ shooting was its own league first. Fifteen in the first quarter alone. She dragged New York back possession after possession in the fourth and the overtime.

And it wasn’t enough, because the help never showed up and the ball wouldn’t stay in New York’s hands. The Liberty shot 55 percent from the field — 55 percent! — and lost, because they coughed it up 17 times and Atlanta turned those into 28 points. The Dream grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and took 20 more shots from the floor. You can survive one of those disadvantages in a playoff game. You can’t survive all three, not even with a historic night from your best player. If the Liberty don’t fix the possession battle by Friday, no timeout — real or phantom — is saving them.

Burton’s three silences Vegas

Out west, the second-year Valkyries kept their fairy-tale season rolling. Veronica Burton went scoreless all night — and then buried a deep three with 41 seconds left, her lone basket of the game, to put Golden State ahead for good in an 83-81 win over the Aces. She iced it at the line in the closing seconds. Tiffany Hayes poured in 21, Gabby Williams added 20 and five boards, and Kayla Thornton chipped in 16 as the Valkyries moved one win from the Finals.

The Aces made them earn every bit of it. Down 66-55 going into the fourth, Las Vegas stormed back behind Chelsea Gray — her jumper, then Dana Evans’ three, then Gray’s tying triple with 2:10 left. Then the ending: Jackie Young missed the second of two free throws with six seconds left, Gray grabbed the rebound and drove for the go-ahead layup, and Kiah Stokes sent it back. Burton corralled the ball. Ballgame. A’ja Wilson was magnificent in defeat — 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, seven rebounds — but the champs are one loss from going home. Our Game 2 recap and Game 3 preview have the full Vegas picture, including an injury report that keeps getting worse.

Friday night: win or go home, twice

So here we are. Two Game 3s on Friday, both elimination games for the road-tested underdogs. The Dream visit the Liberty at Barclays Center at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN2 — New York needs three straight wins, and the building will be loud and furious. Then the Valkyries visit the Aces at Michelob ULTRA Arena at 9:30 PM ET on Peacock and NBCSN — the two-time champs’ season on the line, at home, with A’ja Wilson playing like the best player on the planet. If either series needs more: Game 4s go Sunday, Game 5s next Wednesday.

The injury watch matters as much as the matchups. Allisha Gray’s left hand kept her out of Game 2 — she’s officially day-to-day, and her status is the single biggest swing factor in the Dream series. Satou Sabally remains out for the season. On the Vegas side, the Aces nearly stole Game 2 without Jewell Loyd (left leg, doubtful) and Dana Evans (right knee, doubtful), with Stephanie Talbot questionable and NaLyssa Smith done for the year. A desperate, shorthanded champion at home is the most dangerous animal in sports. Golden State should be nervous.