This is the spot the Liberty didn't want to be in.
No team in WNBA history has come back from an 0-2 hole to win a best-of-five series.
Breanna Stewart played like she was well aware of that sobering fact. Still, her heroics in the first half weren't enough to avoid that dreaded hole.
They did, however, set up an opportunity for an unlikely hero — Marine Fauthoux — to tie the game on a 3-pointer with 10.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Rhyne Howard's floater at the end of regulation rolled off the rim, setting up an overtime period to decide Game 2.
And the Liberty needed one more heroic moment in overtime while down one. Sabrina Ionescu attracted Atlanta's attention while driving left, leaving Jonquel Jones open on the opposite wing.
Ionescu fired with her left hand in Jones' direction, but the pass ended up in the front rows of a raucous State Farm Arena. Atlanta gained possession and Angel Reese knocked down two free throws that eventually gave the Dream a 101-98 overtime victory in Game 2 of the second-round series against the Liberty.
And inexplicably, Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco didn't call a reset timeout as the Liberty inbounded with 4.3 seconds remaining.
Stewart and DeMarco, however, said postgame that officials told them they didn't have a reset timeout remaining.
The ESPN broadcast showed New York with one remaining, and the live analysts said the team had one remaining.
The thrilling game ended with a questionable finish. And it put the Liberty in a hole no team in WNBA history has ever come back from.
Yet, they will attempt to do so beginning with Friday's Game 3 at Barclays Center.
Wednesday's loss came with Stewart putting her team on her back in the first half with 25 points on just one missed attempt. She finished with 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, six assists, one steal and two blocks.
For Fauthoux, this Game 2 had been her most impactful game of the season, one she started as a developmental player before nearly cementing herself in Liberty lore.
She scored 20 points off the bench in 31 minutes against a Dream squad hounding each player at the point of attack.
The rookie held her own against Dream tone-setter Jordin Canada, who finished with 23 points, five rebounds and eight assists.
Fauthoux helped her team to an 8-0 OT run that initially seized momentum. At that point, a path to winning the series became clearer.
A Game 2 win would give the Liberty home-court advantage with the chance of two home wins to secure a victory in a best-of-five series.
Those dreams went up in smoke as Naz Hillmon and Reese scored four crucial points of the Dream down the stretch.
