WNBA scores, takeaways: Liberty sweep Mystics, Wings sweep Dream to earn semifinals berths

New York and Dallas joined Las Vegas in the semifinals while Washington and Atlanta saw their seasons come to an end

The New York Liberty are going to the semifinals of the 2023 WNBA playoffs. They completed a two-game sweep of the Washington Mystics in the first round in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night with a 90-85 overtime victory that featured a number of stunning and bizarre moments down the stretch of regulation and overtime. 

Breanna Stewart had a another tough shooting game, but finished with 27 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks, while Jonquel Jones added 19 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Jones also came up with the game-saving offensive rebound and free throws in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. 

In the second game of Tuesday's double-header, the Dallas Wings ran away from the Atlanta Dream for a comfortable 101-74 victory. The Wings had seven players score in double figures, led by Arike Ogunbowale, who finished with 20 points and seven assists. Teaira McCowan, meanwhile, controlled the paint on both sides of the ball and delivered 12 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks. 

Upon completing the two-game sweep, the Wings secured their first playoff series win since 2009, back when they still played in Detroit, multiple relocations ago. They will now face the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals, with Game 1 of that series set for Sunday. 

Here are some key takeaways from Tuesday night's action:

Bizarre ending in New York

The final few minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime were honestly just bizarre. It was as if both teams were trying to lose the game with the amount of turnovers and mistakes they were trading down the stretch. While that made the game ugly, the chaos was also thrilling from a viewing perspective -- at least for neutrals. New York and Washington fans might still be trying to lower their heart rates.

Let's relive some of the most hectic moments.

We'll pick things up with 44 seconds on the clock in the fourth quarter. The Mystics have the ball and trail by three, and Natasha Cloud drives into the lane and gets blocked by Jonquel Jones. Somehow, she keeps the ball alive, and it gets tipped out to Brittney Sykes, who buries a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 74-74.

The Liberty then call a timeout to set up a potential go-ahead bucket, but Jones turns it over immediately while trying to force the ball into Sabrina Ionescu. Cloud comes up with the steal, draws a foul and goes to the line to make both free throws to put the Mystics ahead, 76-74 with 27 seconds to play.

Again, the Liberty call a timeout to set up a crucial play. This time, it works. Or, at least, it worked well enough to get the shot they wanted. But somehow, Breanna Stewart blew a wide open layup that would have tied the game. She managed to grab the offensive rebound, though, and got it over to Ionescu, who drew a foul. 

An 87% free throw shooter in the regular season, Ionescu missed both, but Jones crashed the glass and rebounded the second one, drawing a foul in the process. Jones then stepped to the line and sank both to tie the game at 76-76 with 11 seconds to play.

The Mystics then went to the bench and had Eric Thibault draw up a set for a potential game-winner. They never got to run it, as Cloud threw the inbounds pass out of bounds. But the Liberty were unable to take advantage, as Courtney Vandersloot immediately turned the ball over herself on the ensuing possession. Sykes even had a chance to put up a heave at the buzzer, but for some reason didn't take a shot, sending the game to overtime.

We'll fast forward now to 30 seconds remaining in overtime. The Liberty are clinging to a one-point lead and get the ball in to Jones in the post. She had a huge mistmatch down there all night long, but got swarmed on this occasion and tossed the ball away to Sykes. But in her hurry to race down to the other end of the floor and potentially win the game for her team, Sykes lost control and turned it over herself -- ironically to Jones. 

Cloud's big night goes to waste

Natasha Cloud made some bold statements after the Mystics' Game 1 defeat, saying that she would handle guarding Sabrina Ionescu for all 40 minutes, and that her team's defense was "lazy." She added that the Liberty would be in for a "rude awakening" in Game 2. 

She walked the walk on all fronts, as she played the best game of her life. Defensively she was stellar, hounding Ionescu all over the floor and limiting her to 11 points on 4-of-11 from the field. By the end of the game, the Liberty were running big-big pick-and-rolls simply to keep Cloud away from the ball. She finished with six rebounds and four steals. 

Offensively, Cloud was scoring from all over the floor, She poured in a career-high 33 points on 12-of-22 from the field and dished out nine assists; between her own baskets and the ones she created, Cloud was responsible for 53 of the Mystics' 85 points in the game. Her go-ahead free throws in the closing seconds may have even been the game-winners if not for some Jonquel Jones heroics on the other end. 

While her effort was eventually for naught, it was arguably the best individual effort we've seen this postseason and Cloud deserves a ton of credit for nearly single-handedly keeping the Mystics' season alive. 

Cloud is set to be a free agent this winter, and there's a chance that this was the last game she ever plays for the Mystics, who drafted her in the second round back in 2015. If she does indeed move on from the only franchise she's ever known, she went out with her head held high. 

A historic win for the Wings

The Wings made a number of major changes during the offseason, both on and off the court. Latricia Trammell was hired as the new head coach, they added veteran experience by trading for Natasha Howard and Crystal Dangerfield and signing Odyssey Sims, and made four first-round draft picks. The result was the first 20-win season since 2008 and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. 

Now, they can add a trip to the semifinals to the list of accomplishments this season. This is the first time that the franchise has won a playoff series since 2009, back when they still played in Detroit, multiple relocations ago. In their five previous playoff appearances in the since then, they had won a grand total of one game; they won more than that in this series alone. 

If that wasn't enough, the Wings made some more history with their dominant performance in Game 2. Arike Ogunbowale led the way with 20 points, as seven different players scored in double figures -- the most ever in a WNBA playoff game. In addition, their 27-point win was the largest in franchise playoff history. 

It doesn't get much better than that. 

[Sep 19, 2023 at 10:52 pm ET · Jack Maloney]

Wings cruising to a win

We are about to enter garbage time here, as the Dream have shown no indication that they can get back into this game. It's just too hard for them to find any sort of consistent offense, which has been an issue all season long. The Wings, meanwhile, have pushed the lead up to 23