Quick Three: Dream 89 Sky 80
Chicago battles back but fails to fully overcome slow start despite Reese's third straight double-double.
The Sky reached the quarter-mark of the 2024 season on Saturday with their loss to the Dream leaving Teresa Weatherspoon 4-6 after her first 10 games as a WNBA head coach. In spite of defeat, Chicago again flashed their potential in overhauling a deficit as big as 18 to claw within a single possession in the final minutes of the game. And while late game execution has doomed the Sky in previous clutch scenarios, their fourth-quarter performance this time around was largely positive. Instead, it was the first-quarter, where the Dream ran out to a 29-15 lead, that proved the difference in the game. Let’s dive in to what the Sky can do differently to avoid such a slow start in the future and highlight what went well in the final three quarters that they “won” by a 65-60 score.
1. Tanisha Wright’s Team Better Embodies “Dog” Moniker
Chicago’s broadcast team mentioned that Weatherspoon highlighted in the pregame that both the Sky and Dream’s rosters are built in the relentless image of their coaches, and that’s certainly looked the case for both teams to this point in the season. And while that led to a physical and exciting game, Wright will have to feel her hustle was better represented by her players’ performance in this game. Don’t get me wrong—the Sky brought plenty of intensity and had stretches of defensive play that were able to frustrate the Dream, but Atlanta, without fail, found a way to bust out of those cold periods with a key offensive rebound or a takeaway that killed the Sky’s momentum. And, the stats reflect that as Atlanta’s advantage in both second-chance scoring (+10) and points off of turnovers (+14) were both big enough to cover the 9-point difference in the game on their own.
This isn’t new for the Sky given they concede the most second-chance points in the league and the sixth-most off of turnovers, but the size of these differentials is usually much smaller as the Sky are also amongst the best in the W in these two scoring disciplines. And while there was issues—especially with protecting the defensive glass—throughout the course of the game, these struggles with the “little things” were most apparent in the first quarter that the Dream dominated. Atlanta finished the opening frame with more boards offensively (5) than the Sky gathered defensively (4), and that’s almost always a recipe for disaster. Add in the 5 turnovers (and 8 points off of those) that Atlanta scored, and it’s pretty easy to see why the Dream were on top. With a manageable deficit early in the game, several of the Sky’s brief runs where they knocked 4-6 points off the lead would have instantly had the Dream reeling. Instead, Atlanta were able to play through their cold patches and keep Sky at an arm’s length—coming up with a key rebound or turnover whenever it felt as if the game was slipping away.
This loss should make the Sky more cognizant of the need for a full 40 minutes of hustle—as even 10 “off” minutes can clearly prove deadly. It’s impossible to speculate why the early energy was so low, but it’s something Weatherspoon will be eager to pinpoint and correct moving forward.
2. Sky’s Backcourt Remains a Mixed Bag
Before the season, the Sky’s back court was, alongside the now injured Elizabeth Williams, meant to provide the team stability during a period of considerable change. However, the duo of Dana Evans and Marina Mabrey have struggled to sync up their periods of good play this season—often leaving Weatherspoon to tinker with rotations as a result. After ten games, the duo has only produced one game where both shot above 40% from the floor (the win over LA on 5/30), and that lack of synchrony definitely contributes to the wider offensive struggles the team has had—especially from three-point land. In that respect, tonight was no different. Evans responded well to a challenging game against the Mystics (0 p, 0/4 FG) with her second-best scoring (13) and most efficient game of the young season (62.5%) that also included a near season-high in assists (5).
However, the story for Mabrey was quite different. She was just 1/7 through three quarters and, at times, seemed completely disengaged from the Sky offense due to Atlanta’s high pressure on the perimeter—which made it difficult to get up a shot much less attack downhill. The result was the Sky registering an identical 1/7 mark from three through thirty minutes which turned out to be one of the big differences in the game as the Dream outscored the Sky by 9 points from behind the arc. That said, Mabrey deserves credit for keeping her head in the game and making an impact late. She scored 10 points in the final quarter, found avenues to attack downhill (3 FTA) and contributed to the Sky finding a semblance of long-range efficiency (2/4 3PT) during their comeback. Weatherspoon, too, is owed credit for continuing to call her star player’s number—using a number of off-ball actions to try and get Mabrey in advantageous positions. If nothing else, the final quarter showed that, whenever the Sky’s starting backcourt does sync-up for a full forty minutes, the chances of winning games will be much higher.
3. Cardoso’s Mature Approach Pays Dividends
Cardoso’s strong performance may get buried in the variety of other storylines (including the likely season-ending injury to Williams), but it’s worth calling attention to just how calmly she reacted to early adversity in her first WNBA start. After opening the game with an early turnover and misses on each of her first four shots, Cardoso would’ve been forgiven if she failed to recover and make an impact. Instead, she hit 6 of her final 7 shots and brought in 5 rebounds while finishing as the Sky’s only positive plus-minus (+4) player. Defensively, she was also impressive against Tina Charles despite the fact the veteran managed to pour in almost everything (22 pts) over the top of the Brazilian’s reach. 5 personal fouls eventually kept Cardoso out of the key moments of the game late and may have contributed to the Sky’s inability to fully get over the hump and reclaim the lead. In any case, the early returns for Cardoso have exceeded high expectations.
Her play has been strong, her impact on opposing defenses has been staggering and her positivity—most impressively—has allowed her to quickly shake off poor plays and move on. From a team perspective, the key to best utilizing Cardoso moving forward will be better understanding when and where to locate post-entry passes. The Sky have done a great job of looking for Cardoso in the post on a regular basis and forcing the opposition to respect her presence, but they’ve sometimes become too predictable with the entry passes they throw her way. Those easy to read passes may sneak by some W bigs and reach the hands of the Sky’s lottery pick, but Charles is simply too smart and tipped away a few as a result. Like many other things, this chemistry and reading of the game should come with time, but the willingness of the Chicago guards to feed their new center early and often bodes well for her becoming an offensive center piece before too long.