Key lessons Liberty learned from successful road trip while showing they’re ‘still f–king dogs’

INDIANAPOLIS — After opening the season with new championship rings and a win against the Aces, the Liberty embarked on their first road trip of the season, with stops in Chicago and Indiana.

The road opener in Chicago went off without a hitch, with the starters watching most of the fourth quarter from the bench in the 25-point win.

The Liberty picked up the 90-88 win — albeit with some drama — at Indiana Saturday to cap a successful two-game Midwest road trip.

The biggest takeaway from the two road wins?

“We’re still f–king dogs,” Natasha Cloud told The Post after the Fever win. “Road wins are harder. … The road warrior mentality — that’s got to be locked in all season, and that’s where you really challenge yourself on the team. What do you have? Do you got it in you to get a gritty win in a hostile environment?”

On Saturday, the Liberty answered “yes” to both of the questions Cloud posed.

But there are other lessons to be learned from the past week of action.

Slow starts out of halftime have become an early troublesome trend for the defending champions.

The Liberty have been outscored 77-51 in third quarters this season.

Saturday was the worst third-quarter showing yet.

The Liberty’s offense got stagnant.

The ball movement slowed.

Players were settling for shots.

They weren’t consistently boxing out or going after rebounds as aggressively as the Fever, which led to run-outs and easier buckets.

Bad offensive possessions led to poor defense and vice versa.

It created, in Cloud’s words, a “s–t show in the third.”

The Liberty went from being up nine at halftime to trailing by 10 at the end of the third.

Early in the fourth, with the Fever up 12, the Liberty had to look themselves in one another’s eyes and get real.

“We’re playing with our food right,” Cloud said. “We got to resort back to us being about Liberty basketball. That’s defending and that’s moving the f–king ball. … Once we were able to get back to that, everything kind of started flowing again.”

The Liberty were able to mount an impressive comeback and survive in one of the toughest places to play because they were executing better and playing more their brand of basketball.

It should instill confidence into the team moving forward.

“The ability for us to be able to get that [experience Saturday] I think was huge for our group to see we can come back from anything,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “And I also think it just shows us areas we need to continue to get better. In the third quarter, we should not be outscored 30-13. If we’re not, then this game is a completely different game. And so I think it’s great for us to be able to get challenged by a great team to be able to continue to find ways to improve.”

Rebounding and defensive cohesion are two areas that the Liberty need to refine.

New York has surrendered an average of 35.3 paint points per game, which is tied for the fifth most in the league through the first week.

The Liberty also have allowed opponents the most offensive boards (13 per game) and total rebounds (38.7).

“We have to be more intentional,” both Cloud and coach Sandy Brondello said.

The Liberty will return to Brooklyn as one of only two remaining teams with a perfect record.

They’re scheduled to play three of their next four games at Barclays Center, starting Tuesday against the Valkyries.