How the Dream took a 2-0 lead over the Liberty

The Atlanta Dream needed extra time, but now the No. 4 seed is a win away from advancing to the WNBA Finals.

The Dream beat the No. 8 seed New York Liberty 101-98 on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in their WNBA playoff semifinal series.

Atlanta hosted both games but now the series shifts to New York. Game 3 is Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and is a must-win for the Liberty to stay alive in the best-of-five series.

Atlanta played Wednesday without injured starting guard Allisha Gray, who suffered an injury to her left (shooting) hand in Game 1. She is day-to-day moving forward.

ESPN was courtside in Atlanta to break down how the Dream beat the Liberty, despite 35 points from Breanna Stewart.

MORE: Game 1 analysis | Playoff schedule

(4) Atlanta Dream 101,
(8) New York Liberty 98 OT

How Atlanta won the game: New York shot 55% from the field but it wasn't enough to get the win because they had so many fewer possessions or chances, taking 20 fewer shots than the Dream. Turnovers continued to plague the Liberty in Game 2, and the Dream capitalized, scoring 28 points off 17 turnovers -- no miscue as detrimental as when Sabrina Ionescu sailed a pass out of bounds toward the end of overtime with the Liberty down one. Jordin Canada won the battle of the point guards, scoring or assisting on 45 of Atlanta's 101 points.

Breanna Stewart did all she could in the first half especially, scoring 25 of New York's 54 points -- the second-most in a first half of a playoff game in WNBA history. But the Liberty barely got any offensive contributions outside of Stewart (35), Jonquel Jones (21) and Marine Fauthoux (20). Fauthoux's heroics -- a massive 3-pointer -- forced overtime. Atlanta had a balanced effort with six players in double-figure scoring, tying a Dream franchise playoff record. That included Isobel Borlase off the bench with 11.

Playoff games are decided by the margins, and the Liberty also were hurt by shooting 16-for-23 from the free throw line. The Dream were much more accurate by making 21 of 23 attempts.

In overtime, it felt like the first team to make a mistake would lose, and that ended up being New York: The Dream forced a jump ball with 11.7 seconds left after collapsing on Jonquel Jones. Then Ionescu's bad turnover on an ensuing drive after the Liberty retained possession sealed New York's fate.

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Marine Fauthoux's clutch 3 forces OT for Liberty

Keys to Game 3: Can the Liberty stop turning over the ball and letting the Dream score on the other end? Can someone finally slow down Canada? Back on their home floor and in front of their raucous fans, can the Liberty play with some pride to, at minimum, avoid a sweep? -- Alexa Philippou