Quick Three: Sky 90 Sparks 86
Two of Chicago's understated stars deliver a knockout fourth quarter in critical win over Los Angeles.
The Sky are too far from clinching a spot in the WNBA playoffs to call today’s game a do or die contest for making it in the postseason, but there were moments where it felt like they could be backing out of the playoff mix as they struggled through today’s third quarter. Instead, Teresa Weatherspoon’s team delivered one of their most impressive closing performances of the season to date as part of a 26-12 fourth quarter where they overhauled a double-digit deficit and picked up their 11th win of the season. In the process, they moved 2.5 games clear of the 9th-placed Dream, clinched the tiebreak over the 10th-placed Sparks and ensured that, regardless of tomorrow night’s result in Phoenix, they’ll spend another week inside the playoff bubble. Let’s dive into how Chicago turned a corner plus examine what went wrong to make the deficit a harsh reality with just 10 minutes to play.
1. Allen + Cardoso connection revives Sky in 4th.
After Lindsay Allen saw her fewest minutes in almost two months and Kamilla Cardoso struggled mightily against Brittney Griner on Thursday night, you’d be forgiven for not expecting them to be the two key protagonists of today’s win. But in the end, the pair—often the under appreciated pieces of the Sky’s first half alongside Reese, Carter and Mabrey—came up with the goods for Weatherspoon when the rookie head coach needed it most. Allen was, as always, at the core of the well-structured pieces of the Sky offense and put her teammates—especially her two rookie bigs—in positions to be successful throughout the course of the game. After averaging 3.3 assists per game before the Olympic break, the vet has quickly taken on a lot of Mabrey’s playmaking duties—finishing with 6 assists in each of the last two games. Even with Mabrey, Allen was still at the controls of the team’s offense, but her influence was sometimes 2 or 3 passes away from the final shot attempt. With Mabrey gone and Chennedy Carter out, the influence is far more direct—something you could feel as she worked closely with Cardoso to manipulate the LA defense. At the same time, the aggressive offensive elements of Allen’s game were also on display. I’ve implored the Sky to dive deeper into what she can provide throughout the course of the season, and today’s game was a perfect example of just how valuable she can be at her best—with 6 of her team-high 16 points coming in the decisive final frame.
For Cardoso, a more favorable match-up with Azurá Stevens produced a huge bounce back game after Thursday’s disappointment. There was a clear emphasis to establish the Brazilian in the flow of the game early, and the rookie center was quick to justify all of the faith shown in her by her teammates and coaching staff. At times, Cardoso looked capable of scoring at will when the floor cleared out around her and her match-up, and the extra bodies the Sparks sent to try and limit those isolation possessions were harshly punished by Cardoso’s passing. At present, that passing and patience in the post has to register as one of the third-overall pick’s most impressive skills and should be something Weatherspoon thinks carefully about working into the offense with more regularity. Regardless of her game-to-game efficiency, opponents will never be comfortable with a 6’7” big going one-on-one in the post; so, the second body will come more often than not. If the Sky can work the ball into the post, let the defense come to Cardoso and then allow her to read and react from there, it opens up all sorts of offensive opportunities they don’t otherwise have due to their lack of shooters. To trust a young big with that type of responsibility is not something coaches can usually do with ease, but Cardoso flashed on several occasions today that she’s ready to make those types of decisions and keep the basketball moving when it arrives to her in the post—even when she’s got the hot hand.
2. Mismatched rotations cause issues.
For all the positives that emerged late, there were long periods—especially in the third quarter—where the Sky simply did not look up for this game. And while a number of things likely contributed to that, one stood out in particular. The need for Weatherspoon to, again, rebuild her rotations. Early in the season, the Sky—like any newly constructed team—needed some time to figure out their rotations, but the eventual line-up change that brought Carter and Allen into the first five seemed to settle things down. Moving Mabrey, however, means it’s necessary to go through that challenging process once again—this time with only a month left in the season. With Carter out Thursday, Weatherspoon was never going to learn much about how the puzzle pieces fit together, and tonight was not much different as Carter played only 16 minutes due, presumably, to her ongoing illness. As a result, the Sky’s personnel groupings have found next to no rhythm after two post-Olympic break games, and it’s difficult to guess whether they’ll have enough time to find suitable chemistry with this group—especially if Carter’s illness persists beyond tomorrow’s game in Phoenix. Tonight, it wasn’t enough to keep the Sky from victory, but the disorientation of playing with a unique group of players for a few minutes at a time before a new tweak to the line-up will almost certainly cost Chicago against more talented opposition.
3. Banham impressive in unique version of Mabrey role.
For all the wonderful things there are to say about Rachel Banham’s first two games in a Sky uniform, she is not Marina Mabrey. Weatherspoon, Sky GM Jeff Pagliocca, her teammates and the team’s fanbase cannot expect her to be that. That said, I’m not sure any/all of those parties would’ve expected her to flash so much versatility after 57 minutes in Sky colors. Banham has hit shots (3/5 3PT for a team that shot just 4/9 tonight), but she’s also been crafty off the ball in a couple of different ways. First, she’s been impressive in her ability to find the spaces in the defense—leading to both of her two-point field goals in this game. She’s, again, not like Mabrey in the sense that you’ll give her the ball and expect her to go find the pockets in the opposition’s defense, but the points count just the same if she can slip into those pockets off the ball and wait for Allen or another playmaker to tee her up for an easy score.
At the same time, she’s been valuable as an off-ball distraction that opens the floor up for others. This is one area where, perhaps, she can be almost a like-for-like swap with Mabrey because of one word: gravity. Whether you’re Mabrey who shoots 35.8% on 6.6 attempts per game or Banham who shoots 33.3% on 3.1, opposing defenses react to players who can shoot the basketball when they’re on the move. On a number of occasions in today’s game, Banham flashed from the center of the court out towards the wing with an LA defender following her to the perimeter. Even if Banham never gets a sniff of the basketball on that trip, her purpose has been served by dragging the defender away from the basket. With a less able shooter making that same run, the defense is less interested, the bodies stay closer to the rim, and it’s easier for Cardoso or Reese to be doubled when the ball comes to them in the post. Just as they did so well with Mabrey, Weatherspoon’s staff will need to keep capitalizing on these types of actions to both (1) create good looks for their best shooter and (2) add some more functional spacing to the floor in spite of their overall lack of shooters.