ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Dream took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the New York Liberty behind a 101-98 overtime win Wednesday, positioning them one win away from the WNBA Finals.
But the evening finished rife with controversy after two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart said in the postgame news conference that the officials told her the team did not have a reset timeout to use at the end of the game when they actually did have one.
"This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout at the end, and they tell us no, and then we leave the game with the reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating," Stewart said.
She continued later: "I asked Kevin [Fahy]. I said, 'Do we have a reset timeout?' And he said, 'I'm going to check at the table.' So then he looked to [crew chief] Fatou [Cissoko-Stephens], and she said, 'No.' So then he told me, 'No.'"
During overtime, each team receives two team timeouts and one reset timeout, which allows the team to advance the ball without huddling on the sideline.
After a late turnover by New York, the Liberty sent Angel Reese to the free throw line, where she made both free throws to put the Dream ahead by three points. New York then inbounded the ball from under its own basket, and while Stewart was able to manage a last-ditch heave, it fell short of the basket.
"Of course, who knows what happened to end the game," Stewart said. "But we would have had hopefully a better shot on our goal."
The Liberty have made an official inquiry with the league into the situation, a source told ESPN.
As part of the pool report -- with officials not made available to reporters until nearly two hours after the game concluded -- ESPN asked Cissoko-Stephens why Stewart said she was told the Liberty did not have a reset timeout available.
"Stewart was standing behind referee Fahy when he confirmed with his partner between Reese's penalty free throws that New York did indeed have a reset timeout remaining," she said.
When asked whether he was unaware if the team had its reset timeout, Liberty coach Chris DeMarco responded, "Yeah, same thing. They just said we didn't have it. Multiple staff members [were told]. It is what it is. We've got to demand more. But it is what it is."
Cissoko-Stephens then said there was no communication between the officials and anyone else on the team.
Dream coach Karl Smesko said he was aware the Liberty had a timeout left.
"I was, I thought they had a timeout left," Smesko said. "But they played it out the way they did. So I was expecting it to be advanced, but it wasn't, so we had to play it, and fortunately we were able to get the stop."
Cissoko-Stephens clarified that available timeouts are tracked by the scorer's table and statistical staff, but that "teams are responsible for managing and tracking their timeout usage throughout the game."
Calling a timeout that a team does not have would result in a technical foul.
But there was plenty in the Liberty's control that didn't go their way.
Most significantly, with New York down one with less than 10 seconds left in overtime, Sabrina Ionescu inadvertently threw the ball out of bounds while driving. She had corralled the ball after New York retained possession following a jump ball that was called when three Atlanta defenders collapsed on Jonquel Jones in the paint.
"I told them it was my fault," Ionescu said. "I took ownership for that. This loss is on me. I've got to take it on the chin, and I've got to be better."
A defensive breakdown before Ionescu's play led to Naz Hillmon getting an open layup with 20.8 seconds left and what ended up being the Dream's go-ahead basket.
The Dream had six players finish in double figures, led by 23 points apiece from Reese and Jordin Canada. Stewart, Jones and Marine Fauthoux combined for 76 of New York's 98 points.
But the Liberty also turned the ball over 17 times, with the Dream scoring 28 points off those turnovers; New York took 64 shots and Atlanta attempted 84.
"There were times when we were up and then we'd turn it over or [have an] empty possessions or just lapses on defense that [they'd] just back cut, we just gave them a layup," Ionescu said. "So there's obviously so many [plays] when you kind of start to think about it that costs you a game. It's not just like one reset or whatever the story is going to be."
Added Leonie Fiebich: "I think we all f---ed up at some stage throughout the game."
It wasn't all bad for the Liberty, as Fauthoux, a rookie point guard, forced overtime with a 3-pointer with 10.3 seconds left in regulation -- though the Dream nearly won in regulation with Rhyne Howard's last-second shot on the ensuing play just rolling out of the basket.
No team has ever come back from down from a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five series in WNBA history.
"I do think we came with the right mindset," DeMarco said. "We were physical. Not blaming anybody. End of the day, we had our chances. They had a layup late. We missed a few rebounds we could have come up with, but the series is not over. The series is not over, and we believe in ourselves, and we believe in this team going forward."