Turns out, the entire era of Liberty basketball might need a reset timeout. 

A season that began with such high hopes of returning to the top of the WNBA ended with a sweep-sealing 85-83 Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Friday night in front of a disappointed capacity crowd at Barclays Center. 

If this was the last stand of this Liberty golden age — heralded by Breanna Stewart’s arrival in 2023 and notarized by a first championship in 2024 — they went down swinging. 

The Liberty were outmuscled and outquicked by a determined opponent with its own prime-aged stars making its leap into the WNBA’s elite — where the Liberty were, circa three years ago. 

After a Game 2 loss that will be remembered for the Liberty bizarrely not using a reset timeout that was in their pocket before their final possession, Game 3 was a more straightforward kind of nail-biter. 

The Liberty flipped the script from Game 1 — when the Dream cranked up the defense to pull away in the third quarter — by finding another level of intensity after halftime. 

The Liberty led 71-66 early in the fourth quarter then went more than five minutes without scoring during a 9-0 Dream run. Their deficit was 81-75 after DeWanna Bonner sank three free throws with 3:15 left. 

Jonquel Jones made a layup in traffic. Stewart made a pair of free throws then drew a charge on Angel Reese to get the ball back. Leonie Fiebich’s bid for a go-ahead 3-pointer rimmed out, and Jordin Canada squeezed in a tough layup to restore the Dream’s four-point lead with 1:15 left. 

Then Jones scored on a post move. The Liberty got the stop they desperately needed, but Sabrina Ionescu committed a disastrous turnover (shades of Game 2 overtime there) — only for Fiebich to steal it back. 

The Liberty drew up a look for Stewart out of the timeout, but it didn’t go down. 

Stewart emptied the tank. After carrying the Liberty throughout the season with vintage two-way play that landed her in the top five of MVP voting and running up major minutes down the stretch, Stewart ran for 39:03. She scored 26 points (on 6-for-15 shooting) and added four rebounds and six assists. 

Jones also scored 26 points and added a game-high 14 rebounds. 

Angel Reese led the Dream with 22 points, nine rebounds and nearly as many instances of inviting the crowd’s scorn by tussling with a Liberty player. 

Canada tormented the Liberty throughout the series with her quickness on both sides of the ball. She wound up with 19 points and 11 assists. 

The Liberty were installed as the betting favorites before the season. 

They ended the season with a 26-18 record that was good for eighth place and a 2-3 mark in the postseason, where a stirring first-round triumph over the Lynx quickly turned into a nightmare ouster by the Dream. 

An offseason of major introspection and potentially seismic moves now awaits a franchise with championship-or-bust standards.