Follow live: Valkyries, Aces battle in Game 3

The WNBA finals are almost here! On Friday, the Atlanta Dream became the first team to clinch their spot in the WNBA Finals with a sweep of the New York Liberty. The Dream will take a 10-game winning streak into the Finals, where Angel Reese will take the WNBA's biggest stage for the first time. Now, the No. 3 seed Las Vegas Aces host the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries (9:30 p.m. ET) at Michelob Ultra Arena. The defending WNBA champion, Las Vegas went 3-0 against Golden State in the regular season but lost 71-60 and 83-81 in San Francisco. ESPN is courtside at both games to cover all the action. Follow along as Michael Voepel, Alexa Philippou, Kendra Andrews and Kareem Copeland check in with live updates. Jump to: Live updates | Postgame analysis (4) Atlanta Dream 85, (8) New York Liberty 83 How Atlanta won the game: The Dream played better when it mattered most, even after allowing a 29-15 Liberty run in the third quarter. New York looked like it was finally figuring out how to pull away, taking a 71-66 lead into the fourth quarter. But from there, New York went cold and struggled to shut down Atlanta's Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada. Canada proved unstoppable, her driving layup with 1:15 left to put Atlanta up four particularly huge. She finished with 19 points and 11 assists, her fourth-career points-assist double-double in the playoffs and 10th such double-double this season. Angel Reese was also massive with a team-high 22 points, including 10 in the first quarter to get Atlanta going. Jonquel Jones carried the Liberty with 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Breanna Stewart did her best to at least keep New York alive with timely plays on both ends. But miscues, missed shots and missed defensive opportunities doomed the Liberty, who were swept in the playoffs for the first time since 2012. How does Atlanta approach the Finals?: The Dream's sweep of the Liberty was remarkably impressive given that it was accomplished with just 11 minutes of contributions from top scorer Allisha Gray. Atlanta has not lost since the FIBA break and, counting both regular season and playoff games, have rattled off 10 straight dubs. We'll see how far momentum can take them; but they'll be in an even better spot if Gray can return in the Finals. This appearance will be Atlanta's first in the finals since 2013 -- it has never won. -- Alexa Philppou