Quick Three: Sky 92 Sparks 85
Chicago beats Los Angeles again behind a strong close from surging sophomore Angel Reese.
After a difficult loss on Friday night, the Sky picked themselves up and grabbed their second win in a week against fellow strugglers Los Angeles. Let’s dive into the key figures that inspire an impressive fourth quarter, and what the Sky can improve moving forward to put teams away sooner.
1. Reese Finds Extra Gear Late (Again)
Angel Reese hardly struggled in the first half (6 points, 9 boards, 4 assists), but it was still a far-from-perfect opening twenty minutes (3/7 FG, 3 TO). Yet, just like in many of Chicago’s recent games, Reese delivered when it was needed most—with a solid third quarter (7 pts) and a flat-out dominant final frame (11 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast). Beyond the box score, her defensive efforts mirrored those of the team as a whole—hit-and-miss through three quarters, but much stronger in the fourth. In other words, Reese found that extra gear that was a hallmark of her college career and has shown through clearly over the past month, first when the Sky needed her after Courtney Vandersloot’s injury and now, in the additional absence of Kamilla Cardoso.
And yet, it’s not just temporary improvements or a surge in productivity that stand out in Reese’s performances—she’s clearly growing as a player, and that development is what’s fueling these dominant stretches in critical moments. The key to it all is Reese, now without Vandersloot, recognizing the power of her drives and how much she can create off of them. Take this early fourth-quarter rep as an example of just how far she’s come—not only in her sophomore season, but specifically over the past three weeks:
As a rookie—or even in the early part of this season—Reese probably drives to the basket and, at best, gets off a very difficult shot that may or may not fall. More likely? Azurá Stevens’ incredible reach denies her, and it ends up as a wasted trip for the Sky. Now, though, this is a play Reese seems to make 90-plus percent of the time—and the impact on Chicago’s offense is massive. The help comes from Stevens and Rickea Jackson, aware that Reese has made a very similar pass (see below from the teams’ 5/25 meeting) to Elizabeth Williams on a dive cut from just beyond the dunker spot multiple times this season, makes a textbook rotation. Thus, Kelsey Plum gets caught between the Sky’s two best outside shooters, and the result is a virtually wide-open three for Kia Nurse—who capped off a very impressive June with a 3-of-5 afternoon from deep, pushing her mark for the month to 41.9%.
Through nearly a year and a half of professional play, teams have shown a clear willingness to throw multiple bodies at Reese’s drives—and the opportunities to pick apart a defense with her playmaking will remain as long as she continues to make reads like these. The fact that she’s already shown the ability to make multiple types of reads this early in her development (4.5 assists per game in June) makes it even harder for defenses to adjust. Her scoring game may still lack range—most of her damage is still inside—but her feel for the floor as a playmaker already has multiple dimensions, something many power forwards never fully develop at the pro level. The next step? Putting those passing chops—or even that kind of fourth-quarter scoring barrage—on display more consistently against top-tier defenses. Because this Sparks team, ranked 11th in defensive rating, is not that.
2. Williams Supports Impressive Inside Attack
Despite a meager 17-point first quarter, the Sky immediately re-established the paint presence that was missing in Friday night’s loss—scoring 14 paint points in the opening frame. The key to that early success was a focused start from both Reese (6 points on 3-of-5 shooting) and Williams (8 points on 4-of-7). Getting touches in the paint signaled that Chicago understood exactly where things had gone wrong two nights earlier, and Williams’ support of Reese—after replacing Michaela Onyenwere in the starting lineup—was crucial. While Azurá Stevens remains a standout defender, Dearica Hamby is not, and the Sky made a point to attack those one-on-one matchups. Whether it was Reese or Williams backing down Hamby, Chicago capitalized—thanks in part to the duo logging a combined 73:33 of playing time, with Maddy Westbeld not seeing the floor.
Even after the Sky lost touch with that interior scoring during the middle stretch—managing just 12 paint points across the second and third quarters—they reestablished it when it mattered most. Reese’s 11 points in the final frame anchored a 14-point fourth-quarter effort in the paint (on a solid 7-of-12 shooting), and while Williams didn’t score in the fourth, her presence was still felt as a spacer (from those dunker spot areas) and on the glass. She and Reese each grabbed 4 rebounds in the final frame, helping Chicago maintain an edge in that department. Credit should also go to Rachel Banham, who—despite not being an interior threat herself—facilitated so much of the duo’s success. Her poise under pressure and ball security helped manipulate the Sparks’ defense into breakdowns that gave the Sky’s bigs clean looks—especially late in the fourth quarter.
3. Sky’s Oft-Shaky Transition D Remains an Issue
The Sky’s strong shooting in the fourth quarter tonight (11/16 FG) meant that this problem couldn’t rear its head in the critical moments of the game, but it remains clear that this team’s transition defense is a huge area of weakness. If you look at the tape all through the season (even as far back as the first preseason game against Brazil), it’s clear this team has problems getting back and, especially, matching-up on the break. Teams have consistently been able to move the ball right down the spine of the Sky’s defense, and Chicago makes things even easier with their obvious lack of effort in that area. Take this possession where Reese is lagging behind the play and Williams is caught picking up the wrong player before realizing (too late) that she needs to jump to guard Reese’s presumed match-up.
In isolation, this is not a huge issue as everyone fails to get back in transition at some point in the season, but this is not a new issue for the Sky or Reese. If you flip back through the film of many games this season, there’s transition chances for the opposition where no one is matching up or at least one player is lagging behind the play (Reese is a frequent culprit though, by virtue of taking lots of shots, the numbers are biased against her) and the opposition gets an easy score as a result. And even if the eye test doesn’t convince you, the Sky were giving up more fast-break points (14.3 per game) than any other team this season entering play today—by a considerable margin (Dallas is next closest at 12.9).
With 19 given up tonight, that average is only going to get worse, and this is one issue that the Sky must correct if they’re serious about winning games against top-quality opposition. Tyler Marsh mentioned it in his post-first-quarter interview with the ESPN broadcast team, but the problem was persitent in the quarters that followed; so, this is definitely an area the Sky need to focus on in the film room over the week-long break they have before their next game against Minnesota a week from today.
Getting back, of course, is the easiest to correct as its 100% down to effort, but matching-up is something that may require a bit more time. The overall focus and communication level of this Sky defense—at least based on its effectiveness defending pick-and-rolls and handing off match-ups in the half-court—has been sub-par for a lot of the season, and these breakdowns come from similar roots. For a team that’s far from being an offensive juggernaut (12th in scoring), these “hustle” stats are key to turning the tide and winning more games on the margins—especially if they can’t produce a dominant offensive fourth quarter like they did today.