ATLANTA — In the afterglow of the Liberty’s statement win against the Lynx on Tuesday, Kennedy Burke said her team is “unstoppable” when it plays together.

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But the Liberty failed to rekindle that magic in the two games since, with Saturday’s 78-62 loss to the Dream the latest misstep for the reigning champions.

Three hours before tip-off, the Liberty announced that Sabrina Ionescu stayed back in Brooklyn to nurse a left foot injury.

And with Breanna Stewart (right knee), Nyara Sabally (right knee) and Isabelle Harrison (concussion protocol) also sidelined, the team had no choice but to use its 13th unique starting lineup of the season.

Marine Johannès got the starting nod alongside Natasha Cloud, Leonie Fiebich, Emma Meesseman and Jonquel Jones.

The Liberty, in need of a win over Atlanta to give them an edge when it comes to potential playoff-seeding tiebreakers, quickly unraveled in the first half and played most of the game down double digits.

They committed nine of their 14 turnovers in the first two quarters, some of which were out of character in the eyes of their 2024 WNBA Finals MVP.

“A lot of the ones we had … were just stuff that normally doesn’t happen for us,” said Jones, who had 11 points and eight rebounds. “When we have simple turnovers like that, you get a little bit tighter with the ball because you don’t want to turn it over. … I think it’s us being a little bit more focused and a little more locked in, and I think we can do a better job with that.”

The Liberty’s second-half effort was much better.

They outscored the Dream 33-30 over the final 20 minutes, but it didn’t matter given their first-half deficit.

“I think we tried [in the first half], but we didn’t have the execution plan down,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “The second half went way better. We saw a way more connected team.”

In the end, though, the same issues persisted with this team.

The Liberty were again outrebounded, 42-33.

They surrendered 17 offensive boards and the Dream scored 21 second-chance points.

Being down two starters is far from ideal.

But in Saturday’s game, the fight was missing from the start, as was the urgency the Liberty displayed Tuesday that made Burke so sure this team could be unstoppable.

Burke’s postgame assessment focused on the team’s porous defense and stop-and-go effort.

“It just starts on defense,” said Burke, who had a team-high 13 points and five rebounds. “Once our defense is great, then offense comes easy for us. So it’s mostly just about effort, giving it for 40 minutes and not doing it for only one half.”

There’s hope that reinforcements are on the horizon.

Ionescu avoided what the team considers a “major” injury, and Brondello doesn’t anticipate her being out for long.

“It’s more about what she can tolerate, so we’ll take it one day at a time,” Brondello said.

Brondello is also hopeful that Stewart and Harrison will be given the green light to play next week.

But their impending returns don’t guarantee this team will “turn on” in an instant.

“We all have enough experience, too, to know that it’s not just about flipping a switch,” Meesseman said. “It’s not something that you can just turn on from one day to another one.”