Quick Three: Dream 88 Sky 70
After solid opening twenty minutes, Chicago offense and defense unravel in synchrony after halftime.
After suffering a gut punch against Indiana last weekend and failing to regain any momentum Tuesday night at Barclays Center, the Sky finally showed signs of life in the first half tonight. It wasn’t pretty—or necessarily sustainable—offense, but it was competent, and for a team still seeking stability two games after losing their starting point guard for the season, that was a welcome shift. Unfortunately, the Dream, after struggling from three early, found their rhythm in the third quarter and blew the game open. Let’s dive into what worked for the Sky—and what’s still missing for them to stay in games for forty minutes, let alone close a third win.
1. Sky Find (But Can’t Sustain) Flow With Atkins in Control
Another lineup change from Tyler Marsh—returning Kia Nurse to the starting five after briefly dropping her—suggested that making two changes Tuesday (rather than just the one necessitated by Courtney Vandersloot’s injury) may have been a misstep. But the quick course correction tonight, starting both Nurse and Rebecca Allen while shifting Ariel Atkins more fully into the lead ball handler role, proved effective. After previous struggles with Rachel Banham initiating the offense, the Sky found more rhythm. Atkins used her touches to get to comfortable mid-range spots while also creating for others, finishing with five assists—and a handful of other high-quality passes that teammates couldn’t quite convert.
The problem, then, was that the Dream—like many teams will against a Sky offense with only one reliable lead ball handler—tightened their coverage on Atkins (and, to be fair, the rest of the guards) at the point of attack. That pressure led to sets stalling out before they could even begin, leaving Chicago scrambling to reach secondary or tertiary options. The issue? They rarely got there. The second half was filled with the same isolation-heavy possessions that have repeatedly doomed the Sky in the early weeks of the season. And the hard truth is this: outside of Atkins, few players in this offense have shown they can consistently be trusted with high-frequency decision-making responsibility.
The result was a nearly eight-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters in which the Sky scored just four points, watching a 50–47 lead turn into a 61–54 deficit. The key takeaway? Shifting Atkins into the role of primary initiator was a step in the right direction, but the Sky remain at least one—if not two—ball-handlers short. This new arrangement may help them stay competitive early, but without more variety, they’ll continue struggling to piece together a full 40-minute performance.
2. Team Defense Improves But Fails to Stay the Course
Like the offense, the Sky's defense showed improvement—but couldn’t sustain it for a full forty minutes. Whether due to better communication, sharper focus, or a mix of both, the unit was better positioned in the first half, with more reliable help coverage. Sure, Atlanta’s cold shooting (13-of-36, 36.1%) made the defense look better—38 first-half points allowed tied a season best—but the Sky also deserve credit. In her between-quarters interview, Kamilla Cardoso pointed to the team’s emphasis on “helping the helper,” and the cleaner rotations reflected that intentional focus.
The second-half unraveling feels like a classic chicken-or-the-egg scenario—at least without a full film review. Did the defense’s gradual slide back into more individual habits create the openings for Atlanta’s barrage? Or, as is so often the case, did energy and execution dip once Atlanta finally started hitting shots? Whatever the cause, by the time Rhyne Howard—held to “just” 8 points in the first half—dropped 14 in the first four minutes of the fourth, it was clear both dynamics were working against the Sky.
The Dream—who came in ranked third in offensive rating—eventually progressed to their (impressive) offensive mean, and the Sky’s defensive continuity and communication unraveled at nearly the exact same time. Take this possession, with Nurse guarding Howard in isolation, as a representation of the general fall off.
One play can rarely tell the whole story, but this particular sequence—one player isolated on defense while four teammates stand by—has become far too common for Chicago early in 2025. Credit to Cardoso for initially attempting to follow the action, but Angel Reese remains frozen on the weak side. For Howard, who plays well bigger than her already broad 6'2" frame, that open paint is an irresistible invitation. Nurse, though a decent-sized defender at 6'0", is clearly outmatched here, and the lack of timely (or any) help defense highlights a squad that isn’t yet functioning as a cohesive unit. It’s just one play, but the recurring nature of these breakdowns suggests a systemic issue that, if left unaddressed, will continue to plague this Chicago defense.
3. Rotational Mash-Up Continues
After sitting Michaela Onyenwere out of the non-garbage time rotation on Tuesday, she returned to a bigger role tonight, including first-quarter minutes. The trade-off was Hailey Van Lith practically disappearing from meaningful action, logging just four garbage-time minutes. While that’s understandable given the rookie’s need to settle in, the continued rotational shifts remain a concern.
Forget minute shares for a moment. With Vandersloot out and Moriah Jefferson just returning to on-court activity, the rotation should stabilize around eight players, with the two rookies playing smaller roles. Instead, focus on which groupings have emerged as regular—never mind successful—lineups so far. Naturally, the starting five that began the season developed some cohesion before Vandersloot’s injury, and that setback is no reflection on Marsh.
But what about the rotation of bigs? None of Reese, Cardoso or Elizabeth Williams (who played extremely well against her former team tonight) has missed any time and yet, if I asked you what Williams’ minutes look like, what would you say? Does she play when Cardoso sits? When Reese sits? With Allen or Onyenwere as a small-ball four? Some of all three? And when does she typically enter the game? How long does she play for? So far, I don’t feel like I can consistently answer any of those questions, and Williams’ situation should be the most simplistic to gauge given it is, in most cases, three players sharing all 80 minutes at the four and five. Slide out to the perimeter—where there’s a lot more variability of role depending on match-up (Nurse could be a 1, 2 or 3 for instance)—and it’s even harder to find answers.
In the context of the last two games, that’s understandable. Marsh is navigating uncertain waters—rookie coach or not—and his recent pivot, in my view, was a smart correction on Tuesday’s change. If the rotation now stabilizes around the core group of eight players, it could provide a foundation for building continuity; after all, there are only so many ways to combine eight players. The bigger concern is that continued tinkering may lead to lineups—even within limited options—that see less time together. Lack of familiarity, already a major challenge for new rosters in a fast-paced WNBA season, often breeds confusion about roles and responsibilities, which is rarely beneficial. This is just something to watch, but with the presumed starting five settling in, it’s time to give players consistent minutes and build more cohesive, repeatable lineups night to night.