Quick Three: Sky 85 Dream 77
Chicago picks up a huge win over fellow playoff competitors Atlanta with one of their best crunch-time performances of the season.
After a pair of difficult losses to two of the league’s best teams, the Sky were offered a great chance to bounce back against a Dream team that are struggling mightily with injuries. With a chance to move up in the standings there for the taking, Chicago recognized the urgency of tonight’s game and delivered one of their most complete performances of the season so far. Don’t get me wrong; this was far from a perfect performance. However, the Sky showed up in all of the difficult moments and picked up a critical victory as a result. Let’s dive into some of the stars of the night plus reflect on what made the Dream so difficult to stop during some stretches.
1. Where would the Sky be without Chennedy Carter?
Revisionist history will probably suggest that Carter was always going to be a huge part of the Sky’s success this season, but the reality is that simply wasn't the case. Jeff Pagliocca took a bit of a flyer on Carter in the offseason with hopes that she could replicate the incredible scoring ability she showed early in her W career, but there was no indication that Pagliocca or coach Teresa Weatherspoon saw the 25-year-old as a centerpiece of the team’s offense. 18 games into the year, it’s difficult to envision what the Sky’s offense would look like without Carter in it. Marina Mabrey, despite flashing her obvious potential, has suffered through some down shooting stretches (including tonight’s 2/8 line). Dana Evans, though great tonight (more on that to come), did not smoothly slide into the starting line-up, and Kamilla Cardoso—once thought to be a potential focal point down low—has battled with the inconsistencies that most rookies face (44% FG). Thus, it’s difficult to envision how the Sky would put together an even semi-functional offense without Carter’s ability to attack the basket and hit from the mid-range.
Tonight was just the latest example of Carter’s dominance as she regularly blew past one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders, Jordin Canada (who, to be fair, is only just returning from injury), on her way to a 26-point outing backed by incredible efficiency (11/16FG) and complimented by a team-high total in assists (4). Carter, as she has been throughout the season, was also a consistent positive on defense and forced a key turnover late as the Sky were clinging to a slim 3-point advantage. Despite her high-usage role, Carter was also careful with the basketball en route to her 5th turnover free game of the year. So far this season, Carter is at or near her career numbers for usage and minutes played, but is committing the fewest turnovers of any of her four seasons in the W with just 29 total through 18 games (1.6 per). With one of their most important players taking such good care of the ball, it should come as no great surprise that Chicago has the 4th best turnover percentage in the league and allows the fifth-fewest points off of those turnovers. Tonight, the Sky committed just 11 turnovers compared to 19 by the Dream—with the subsequent 9-point edge in points off of turnovers enough to cover the difference in the final score.
One thing Carter can improve upon? Fouls. She managed well after picking up her fourth tonight, but it’s not the first time that she’s racked them up quickly. Her enthusiasm going for the ball is, no doubt, appreciated by Weatherspoon and her teammates, but one additional steal over the course of a game pales in comparison to what Carter provides by being on the floor. Luckily for the Sky, their bench produced a brilliant response when Carter sat with her fourth foul tonight.
2. Evans + DeShields stay ready + play huge role in W.
A big part of that response late in the third when Carter sat was the play of Dana Evans and Diamond DeShields. But before we jump ahead to those impacts in the second half, let’s rewind back to the first. Much like on Sunday against the Lynx, Weatherspoon switched up her rotations to blend a group of bench players with the starters late in the first quarter, and the result was a great stretch that saw the Sky end the period on a 6-0 run. With Evans hitting shots and DeShields showing the same energy as on Sunday, Weatherspoon decided to roll with that group for an extended period—with the Sky stretching the lead to as many as 8 points after that initial 6-0 run turned into an extended 22-9 swing with Evans and DeShields on court. And while the Dream were eventually able to trim that lead back down before the half, it was clear that the shotmaking of Evans and energy of DeShields had effectively backed Atlanta into a corner.
With that in mind, Weatherspoon returned to that group for periods again in the second half and the result was much of the same. Including the aforementioned period directly after Carter picked up her fourth foul (when Chicago went on a critical 15-9 run to take the lead into the fourth), Evans hit four threes and wound up a near-team-best +7 in 22 minutes (her most since 6/20). The pace she gave the half-court offense represented a complete departure from the grind-it-out nature of Sunday’s game against the Lynx, and helped the Sky match a Dream team that had some brilliant stretches of offensive play. Similarly, DeShields—who wound up getting closing minutes after her brilliant start—was +16 in the 23 minutes that she got (her most since 5/28). Her passing and defensive energy were exceptional, and she gave Atlanta’s perimeter players a lot of trouble with her length on defense. At the offensive end, she wasn’t a huge volume scorer, but the shots she did take were carefully selected ones and the results showed as she efficiently (3/5 FG, 1/1 3PT) added 9 important points. If DeShields continues to play like this, there will be an easy case for her to work her way back into a starting role before season’s end. In any case, her and Evans’ ability to stay ready in spite of their declining role in recent games made all the difference in the Sky getting tonight’s crucial win.
3. Atlanta’s ball movement a mark Chicago can aim for.
Despite suffering defeat, the Dream played some beautiful basketball tonight. They finished with 27 assists on 30 made field goals, and a lot of their success was rooted in the ability of their bigs to shoot the basketball from the outside. When Tina Charles or Cheyenne Parker-Tyus steps outside, there’s a more than reasonable chance that they’ll take (and make) the shots that come their way; so, Angel Reese (who continues to be impactful despite not always getting love in my columns) and Cardoso are forced to step out to the perimeter. The result is a lot of open space in behind that others can cut into—resulting in easy lay-ins or subsequent passes that make it possible for a different Dream player to get a look from outside. Whether on the perimeter or inside, there’s always a feeling that the Dream’s bigs have another pass in them when they catch the basketball. Parker-Tyus and Charles can be dominant inside scorers and will hunt their own scores, but they’re also very cognizant of the need to generate better shots with additional passes. In the same way, the Dream’s shooters—like Allisha Gray—are more than willing to put the ball on the floor and attack to make sure that the next look a teammate gets is even more open.
The Sky’s offense, on the other hand, looked far more stagnant at times. I don’t think that’s because the Sky’s personnel can’t do these things; it’s just a matter of finding the balance between playing individually and continuing to move the ball as a team. On too many occasions tonight, the ball went into the post, and it was quickly apparent that a further pass wasn’t coming. Atlanta’s defense, as a result, could tighten up on the ball and that outcome is one that none of Reese, Cardoso or Isabelle Harrison wants to see. Because the Sky’s front court options beyond Harrison aren’t known as capable shooters, they probably can’t unlock all that the Dream did tonight just yet, but I think we’ve seen enough intelligent passing from all three of the front court regulars to suggest there’s some meat left on the bone when it comes to keeping the play moving. Hopefully, when the Sky flip on the tape for today’s game, they’ll find some inspiration in what the Dream were doing to unsettle their defense. Of course, they should also be quite satisfied with the fact that they found a way to piece together enough offense to beat such great ball-movement—especially with Mabrey having an off night.
Just looking at the teams' numbers from 3pt. Its abysmal. They've got to bring in help in that area. I still want Brynna to get a shot.