The Valkyries and Dream both take 2-0 WNBA semifinal leads as the Aces and Liberty lose Game 2 in the final seconds.
The Aces finally produced the comeback they needed. The Liberty finally pushed Atlanta into the kind of late-possession game where one shot could change the series.
Neither was enough.
Golden State held off Las Vegas 83-81 Wednesday night, then Atlanta survived New York 101-98 in overtime. The Valkyries and Dream now lead their WNBA semifinal series 2-0 and need one more victory to reach the Finals.
Game 1 had been about separation. Game 2 was about survival.
The teams that already held the advantage survived that version too.
Golden State Survived the Comeback
For almost three quarters, the Valkyries looked ready to make Game 2 easier than Game 1.
Golden State built a lead as large as 17 and carried a 66-55 advantage into the fourth quarter. Tiffany Hayes gave the Valkyries 21 points off the bench. Gabby Williams added 20. Kayla Thornton scored 16.
Las Vegas kept coming.
A’ja Wilson scored 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting and helped turn what had looked like another comfortable Golden State win into a possession game. Chelsea Gray pulled the Aces closer. Dana Evans hit a 3. Gray hit another to tie it.
Wilson’s layup with 1:36 remaining finally gave Las Vegas its first lead of the night, 76-74.
The entire series could have shifted there.
Burton Took the Shot
Williams answered Wilson’s layup to tie the game.
Then Veronica Burton made her only field goal of the night.
With 41 seconds remaining, Burton stepped into a deep 3 and put Golden State back in front. It was the kind of shot that looks reckless if it misses and inevitable once it drops.
The final possession became even more dramatic.
Jackie Young went to the line with six seconds left and missed the second free throw. Gray grabbed the rebound and attacked the basket, creating one final chance to tie the game.
Kiah Stokes blocked her at the rim.
Burton secured the ball. The Valkyries had survived.
Golden State is now one victory from the WNBA Finals in only its second season.
The Aces Found More Offense
Las Vegas at least answered one of the biggest questions left by Game 1.
The Aces scored only 60 points in the opener, their lowest total of the season. They reached 81 in Game 2 despite playing without Jewell Loyd, who was ruled out with the leg injury she suffered Sunday.
Wilson looked much more like the player Golden State has to build its entire defense around. Gray became more aggressive late. The Aces finally put the Valkyries into possessions where one mistake could have flipped the result.
What did not change was Golden State’s depth.
The Valkyries did not need Burton to score all night before trusting her with the biggest shot. They got 21 points from Hayes off the bench and another 20 from Williams while continuing to make Wilson work for nearly every clean touch.
Las Vegas proved it could play a much better game than the opener.
Golden State proved it could beat that version too.
Atlanta Won Without Gray
The second semifinal produced a different kind of test.
Atlanta entered Game 2 without Allisha Gray, its leading scorer. New York responded by finally getting the huge Breanna Stewart game it needed.
Stewart scored 35 points, including 25 in the first half. Marine Fauthoux added a massive 20-point performance off the bench. The Liberty scored 98 points after managing 82 in Game 1.
Atlanta still found enough creation without Gray.
Angel Reese scored 23. Jordin Canada matched her with 23 and added eight assists. Rookie Izzy Borlase absorbed some of Gray’s missing minutes and scored 11 off the bench.
The Dream did not replace Gray with one player.
They spread the responsibility around.
New York Forced Overtime
The Liberty looked finished late in regulation.
Atlanta led 86-80 with less than two minutes remaining. Sabrina Ionescu hit a deep 3. Stewart scored through traffic. Reese made two free throws to put the Dream ahead 88-85 with 14.5 seconds left.
Fauthoux answered.
Her 3 with 10.3 seconds remaining tied the game and sent it to overtime after Rhyne Howard missed Atlanta’s final shot.
New York had finally turned the series into exactly what it needed: five more minutes with the game even.
Atlanta won those five minutes too.
Reese Controlled Overtime
The Dream scored the first five points of overtime. New York answered with eight straight and took a 96-93 lead.
Then the game flipped again.
Canada scored. Reese scored. Stewart answered. Naz Hillmon finally put Atlanta ahead for good with a layup with 20.8 seconds left.
Reese finished with six of Atlanta’s 13 overtime points and added two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining after an Ionescu turnover.
The Liberty still had one final possession, but the ending became messy. New York did not use its reset to advance the ball, and Stewart was forced into a desperation attempt after time had almost disappeared.
The final sequence will draw attention because Stewart said afterward that there had been confusion over whether the reset remained available. The larger game was not decided by one procedural moment.
Atlanta survived 35 Stewart points, a late Liberty comeback and overtime without its leading scorer.
Game 2 Changed the Scoring
Both semifinal series became dramatically more offensive Wednesday.
Golden State and Las Vegas combined for 131 points in Game 1. They combined for 164 in Game 2.
Atlanta and New York combined for 174 in their opener. Game 2 reached 199 after overtime.
The increase did not help either trailing team change the series.
The Aces needed more scoring and got it. The Liberty needed Stewart to take over and got that too. Both games tightened considerably.
The result stayed exactly where Game 1 had left it.
That is probably the strongest signal through two games. Golden State and Atlanta have now won both the lower-scoring, more controlled versions of these matchups and the higher-scoring versions where their opponents’ stars finally produced.
Two 2-0 Leads Change Everything
The semifinal format gives both the Aces and Liberty time.
History gives them almost none.
No WNBA team has ever recovered from a 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series. The 2018 Phoenix Mercury are the only team to even force Game 5 after losing the first two.
That does not make Friday ceremonial. Las Vegas goes home. New York goes home. Both finally get the venue shift they need, and Game 2 showed that neither matchup is structurally beyond repair.
But the burden has completely changed.
The Aces no longer need to prove they can repeat as champions. They need to win one game.
The Liberty no longer need to solve their entire inconsistent season. They need to win one game.
Golden State and Atlanta get three chances to win once.
The New Finals Picture
The semifinal field looked open when the round began.
It looks very different after two games.
The Valkyries have beaten the defending champions twice, first by controlling them defensively and then by surviving their best comeback. The Dream have beaten the Liberty without finishing Game 1 with Gray and then without having her at all in Game 2.
Neither 2-0 lead is built on one repeatable trick.
That is why both are so difficult now.
Las Vegas and New York finally got the games they needed Wednesday.
The Valkyries and Dream won those too.
Sources
WNBA, October 8, 2026 — Valkyries 83, Aces 81 semifinal Game 2 recap | WNBA, October 8, 2026 — Dream 101, Liberty 98 overtime semifinal Game 2 recap | WNBA, October 7-8, 2026 — official Game 2 statistics and series schedule | Reuters / Associated Press, October 7-8, 2026 — semifinal Game 2 coverage and injury updates