Naz Hillmon Lifts Dream Past Liberty in Overtime, Atlanta Takes 2-0 Semifinal Lead

Naz Hillmon scored on a layup with 20.8 seconds left in overtime Wednesday night, and the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 101-98 at State Farm Arena to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five WNBA semifinal.

Rhyne Howard set up the basket. It put Atlanta ahead 99-98 and was the 17th lead change of the night.

Angel Reese and Jordin Canada each scored 23 points. Reese had six of the Dream's 13 points in overtime, including two free throws with 4.3 seconds left for the final margin, and Canada went 9-of-15 from the field with eight assists.

Atlanta is one win from its first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013. The Dream won Game 1 92-82 on Sunday.

Breanna Stewart scored 35 points for New York on 11-of-21 shooting and went 11-of-13 at the free-throw line. She added 11 rebounds and six assists, and 25 of her points came before halftime. Jonquel Jones had 21 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks. Marine Fauthoux scored 20 points off the bench before fouling out in the final seconds.

The Liberty shot 54.7% from the field. Atlanta shot 40.5%, but it took 84 shots to New York's 64, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to the Liberty's five, and scored 28 points off 17 New York turnovers.

With less than two minutes left in regulation, New York trailed 86-80. Sabrina Ionescu hit a 25-foot pull-up 3-pointer with 1:40 to go. Atlanta was called for a shot-clock violation with 31.2 seconds left, and Stewart scored on a driving layup at 26.5 seconds to make it 86-85.

Ionescu fouled Reese with 14.5 seconds left. Reese made both free throws. On New York's next trip, Fauthoux hit a 25-foot 3-pointer off a Stewart pass with 10.3 seconds remaining to tie it 88-88, and Howard missed a 7-foot floater on Atlanta's final possession of regulation. Jones rebounded with 1.7 seconds left.

Dream coach Karl Smesko said Atlanta got the shot it wanted on that last possession after Fauthoux tied it with about 10 seconds to play.

"We just had a message that we thought we could be the best team over the last five minutes, let's start off by executing the first couple plays," Smesko said. "Everybody was locked in on what those plays were, and they went out there and executed them.

"We got a lead, and then JC and Angel made huge plays," Smesko continued. "JC has been incredible throughout the playoffs, and Angel got offensive rebounds, made big plays in overtime, and knocked down the free throws. They were both tough in key moments."

Atlanta scored the first five points of overtime. Howard converted a three-point play at 4:05 after a Liberty challenge confirmed the foul on Fauthoux, and Reese followed with a cutting layup off a pass from DeWanna Bonner.

New York answered with eight straight. Fauthoux made a 26-foot pull-up 3-pointer, Leonie Fiebich tied it on a driving layup, and Jones hit a 3-pointer with 2:01 left for a 96-93 lead.

Canada scored on an 8-foot fadeaway. Bonner then stole a pass from Fauthoux, and Reese scored with 44.3 seconds left for a 97-96 lead. Stewart answered with a cutting layup at 33.8 seconds, 13 seconds before Hillmon's go-ahead basket.

A jump ball between Bonner and Jones with 11.7 seconds left went to Ionescu, and her pass went out of bounds at 6.5 seconds. Fauthoux fouled twice to stop the clock, and the second was her sixth. Reese made both free throws, and Stewart's 32-foot 3-pointer missed with 1.1 seconds left.

Six Dream players scored in double figures. Howard had 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while going 5-of-20 from the field. Hillmon played 43:30 and finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Isobel Borlase scored 11 off the bench, and Bonner added 10.

Borlase made back-to-back 3-pointers at 2:28 and 1:59 of the third quarter to put Atlanta up 75-67, its largest lead of the night. New York closed the quarter on a 7-0 run that ended with a 25-foot bank shot by Fauthoux at 6.2 seconds, and the Dream led 75-74 entering the fourth.

Atlanta played without Allisha Gray, who hurt her left hand in Game 1. Smesko ruled her out Tuesday and called her day-to-day.

Canada reached 100 career playoff assists and moved into third in Dream postseason history, according to team notes. Howard passed 200 career playoff points and moved into fourth on the franchise's postseason steals list.

The game drew a sellout crowd of 9,574. There were 17 lead changes and eight ties.

Game 3 is Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and will air on ESPN2. A Game 4, if necessary, would be Sunday at Barclays Center, and a Game 5 would be Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Atlanta.