Veronica Burton Explains Clutch 3 That Lifted Valkyries Past Aces

Veronica Burton had not made a field goal Wednesday night when Gabby Williams passed her the ball for the second time on the same possession. Burton let it go from 28 feet over A'ja Wilson with 41.5 seconds left, and the Golden State Valkyries never trailed again.

Golden State beat the Las Vegas Aces 83-81 in San Francisco and took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series. One more win sends the Valkyries to the WNBA Finals in their second season.

Golden State closed out the Dallas Wings on Oct. 2 to finish a three-game first-round series. Last season, the Valkyries became the first expansion team in league history to reach the playoffs in their inaugural year.

Burton went to the bench for good with 7:29 left in the third quarter of Golden State's 71-60 win in Game 1 on Sunday. She finished Game 2 with eight points. The 3-pointer was her only field goal in three attempts, and she went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Eleven seconds after Las Vegas took its only lead of the night, Williams had tied the score at 76. Burton said the Valkyries trust Williams with the ball in those moments as well.

"I was just saying I had to do something out there," Burton said. "I appreciated Gabby trusting me in that moment, obviously a big moment. We trust her with the ball in her hands as well and so for her to pass it up to me not just once in that possession but twice … the second one I knew that had to go up."

Golden State led 42-31 at halftime and pushed its lead to as many as 17 points. Las Vegas went into the fourth quarter down 66-55, then scored 26 points in the period.

Chelsea Gray's jumper with 4:46 left cut it to 73-68. The Valkyries got a free throw on a defensive 3-second violation, and Dana Evans answered with a 3-pointer to make it 74-71. Gray tied the game at 74 with a 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark.

Las Vegas went ahead 76-74 with 1:36 left. That finished an 8-0 run, and the lead lasted 11 seconds. Williams hit a 13-foot jumper at the other end, and the Aces' next possession ended in a shot-clock violation that gave Golden State the ball back with 1:01 to play.

Aces coach Becky Hammon had three or four plays she wanted back.

"That Burton 3 was massive," Hammon said. "We battled back and gave ourselves a shot after a really abysmal first half."

Gray made two free throws with 9.2 seconds left to pull Las Vegas within 79-78. Golden State made four free throws over the next stretch, two of them by Burton, and Las Vegas made two.

Jackie Young went to the line with 5.9 seconds left and the Aces down 83-80.

Young made the first and missed the second on purpose. Gray grabbed the rebound and drove under the basket, and Kiah Stokes blocked her layup attempt. Burton came up with the ball as time expired.

Tiffany Hayes led Golden State with 21 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting. Williams added 20 points and five rebounds, and Kayla Thornton scored 16.

The Valkyries made 25 of their 27 free throws and 10 of their 29 3-point attempts. Their bench outscored the Las Vegas bench 34-14.

Wilson scored 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. She has scored at least 20 points in 11 straight playoff games. That run broke a tie with Breanna Stewart, who had 10, for the longest such streak in WNBA postseason history.

Wilson has scored in double figures in a league-high 39 consecutive playoff games. Her six defensive rebounds Wednesday moved her to 485 in the postseason, tied with Candace Parker for second all-time.

Gray finished with 19 points and six assists. With seven field goals, she reached 369 in her postseason career and passed Seimone Augustus, who has 362, for eighth all-time.

Young had 14 points, eight assists, and four steals. Stephanie Talbot added 10 points and four rebounds after missing Game 1, and Kalani Brown had nine points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench. Evans scored five points with two assists in her first postseason game this year.

Las Vegas played without Jewell Loyd, who was ruled out with a left leg injury. The Aces shot 33.9% from the field in the Game 1 loss and 43.9% in Game 2.

In the other semifinal, Atlanta took a 2-0 lead on New York with an overtime win in Game 2.

Game 3 tips off Friday, Oct. 9, at 9:30 p.m. ET at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, streaming on Peacock and NBCSN. If necessary, Game 4 is Sunday, Oct. 11, in Las Vegas.