Two games. One close, one blowout. But the end result was the same: the home teams swept their lower-seeded opponents to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
New York survives OT
The night began with an early candidate for “Game of the Playoffs” when the No. 2 seed New York Liberty beat the No. 7 seed Washington Mystics 90-85 in overtime to not only win Game 2 but also sweep the series and earn a semifinal appearance for the first time since 2015.
The game was competitive throughout, but things intensified when Washington rallied to take the lead in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. With under two minutes left, both teams exchanged baskets, with New York getting key shots from Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart and Washington’s Brittney Sykes hitting a ridiculous bank shot corner 3 to tie the game with 33 seconds left.
After both teams hit a couple of free throws, the game headed to overtime, where the Liberty squeaked out the victory. The Mystics had a critical turnover with 14.1 seconds left when Sykes lost control of her handle to give the ball back to New York. Stewart hit her free throws and a feeble attempt by Ariel Atkins to tie the game missed, allowing the Liberty to escape with a win.
Washington fought valiantly, led by Natasha Cloud putting on a…
