Quick Three: Sky 88 Fever 87
Chicago snaps their two-game skid against Indiana in a back-and-forth instant classic.
At various point in today’s game, it looked like both teams had a chance to establish some breathing room and coast to an easy victory, but a surge by the other followed shortly after. For whatever reason, the Sky and Fever just seem to have a knack for taking their games all the way down to the final whistle. In the end, after a slew of missed free throws by the Sky (another recurring theme of this series) and a last gasp reset timeout by the Fever, Chicago came out with the victory, but the path to the result was plenty complicated for both teams. Let’s dive into what went well for Chicago and take a brief look at why this victory didn’t need to be so difficult.
1. Angel Reese dominates the fourth.
If you look at the fourth quarter in totality, it wasn’t a beautiful display of basketball from either team. Aside from Aliyah Boston’s nearly game-saving three with just under twenty seconds left, neither team made a shot from outside the paint in the final 7:12 of regulation—thanks to a combination of great defense (especially from Chicago) and questionable offensive decision-making. The one player who managed to excel amidst that chaos was Reese. She finished the fourth quarter with 10 points and 5 rebounds, and her efficiency throughout the course of the game was impressive (8/12 FG, 9/11 FT). The positioning of Reese in the paint made it simpler for teammates to find her and her patience made it far easier for her to convert when the ball did find her in the post. Meanwhile, her relentless energy on the offensive glass continues to provide opportunities even when the ball doesn’t come her way—with Reese triggering a slender but notable 7-5 edge over the Fever in second-chance scoring. Even when Indiana did send pressure her way, Reese showed the ability to process the double team and find Kamilla Cardoso on a great assist in the second quarter.
Learning how best to unload the ball in these situations will remain a work in progress, but it’s great for Teresa Weatherspoon to see the flashes of her young stars (Cardoso also had 3 assists) making the right reads when pressure comes. At the same time, the defensive improvement Reese showed in the latter part of the game was also of great value for the Sky after both Reese and her teammates had a few obvious defensive miscues earlier on. Her back-and-forth with the Fever’s NaLyssa Smith, who had been brilliant through 11 quarters against the Sky this season, escalated in the fourth and seemed to knock the Fever’s dynamic power-forward out of her stride. Avoiding technicals like the one she picked up is important moving forward (simply to avoid the risk of being thrown out), but the mental effect Reese’s periods of dominance have on opponents is already showing at times in her young W career—just as it did in college.
2. Carter + Cardoso tandem building chemistry.
The two-player game between Cardoso and Chennedy Carter was the foundation of the Sky’s solid 45-point first-half. Carter, to her credit, has clearly used the extra playing time she’s gotten with the Brazilian since moving into the starting five to better understand exactly where and when her center wants the ball in the post. Meanwhile, Cardoso is equally impressive in her ability to get the ball down low and make sure that the possession keeps moving from that point forward. Because of her extraordinary size and physical gifts, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see Cardoso catch the ball and go to work—with her only thought being to score. Instead, she’s showed the willingness to let the double come and play make based on her teammates’ cuts from the perimeter.
And that’s where, again, Carter comes back into the play. She’s probably the Sky’s most willing cutter irrespective of the defensive coverage, and she was lucky enough to see her match-up dive down to initiate the double team on Cardoso on a couple of occasions in the first half. As soon as Carter’s match-up (who, in reality, has little chance to trouble the 6’7” Cardoso) dives down into the post, it’s only a matter of time before Carter will find whatever space in and around the restricted area that’s available. By not backing down too early and keeping her eyes up to see the floor, Cardoso left spaces for Carter to run into, and the shifty guard complied and was rewarded with some easy scores. The duo flashed nice chemistry in the pick-and-roll and, of course, Carter found success scoring from iso situations (8/12 FG), but the pair’s unselfishness early permeated through the team well. They combined for 8 of the Sky’s 25 assists (on 31 FG) and the overall unselfishness of the team led to an efficient (60% 2PT) offensive outing.
3. Defensive lapses and free throw misses complicate win.
Because the Sky won, this can be filed away under the “doesn’t matter today” category, but these trends are things that will likely continue to hurt Chicago if uncorrected moving forward. The first was the simplicity of scoring looks that Indiana was able to generate during most of the second quarter and some parts of the third. Whether you chalk it up to poor communication, absent weak side help defense, subpar effort getting back in transition or some combination of those and other factors, Indiana got way too many easy scores. To their credit, the Sky corrected this with a far more focused defensive effort in the fourth, but I imagine it’s still frustrating for Weatherspoon to see her players overcomplicate an otherwise impressive performance with these lapses. When the Sky could have been cementing their advantage with a huge second, they were giving up all of these easy baskets—allowing Indiana to hang around long enough to find their own groove in the third.
Again, it’s easy to say “who cares” when the character needed to comeback and win anyways is present, but winning via non-stressful circumstances is also important. And to that point, the Sky’s late struggles at the free-throw line (2-7 plus the intentional miss by Cardoso in the last 43 seconds) don’t end up as a talking point or a concern if the game is already over. Of course, an alternative solution is to not miss the free throws, but the Sky aren’t even thinking about that type of pressure late if they close the deal sooner. Of course, it’s impossible to say that, with a bigger edge in the first half, the overall circumstances of the game aren’t different, but Chicago’s two big runs today were enough to bury a lot of teams in the W—including this rapidly improving (but still young) Indiana side.
Of course, I must stress this is still year one for this new Sky project; so, Weatherspoon will expect these types of shortcomings and has to be patient with hopes that they’ll improve by season’s end and set the table for another step forward in 2025. Either way, the fact that her team has the character needed to win in spite of that says a lot about both the players and the group mentality their coach is cultivating.