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The Chicago Sky are getting set to take on the Indiana Fever Saturday night at the United Center, and while the game has lost some of its luster with Fever star Caitlin Clark out with an injury, the matchup still offers plenty of excitement.
Even without Clark playing, the game will still likely set a franchise attendance record, and even has a shot at the all-time WNBA mark of just under 21,000. It’s also a historic broadcast in primetime CBS, as the first-ever regular season WNBA game broadcast in primetime on network television.
“It just goes to show the growth of this league that we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” said Jordan Kent, who will call the play-by-play alongside analyst Isis Young and sideline reporter Tiffany Blackmon.
While the Fever dominated the Sky in a 93-58 win in the WNBA season opener last month, the Sky have started to play better, coming into the game with two straight wins.
“So this could be a huge litmus test game for Chicago to see how much they’ve really improved,” Kent said. “For Indiana, it might raise more questions about their depth, considering no Clark right now, of course.”
Sky guard Ariel Atkins, in particular, has been playing better recently, with at least 17 points and four rebounds in each of the team’s past three games.
Kent said, to start the season, the Sky seemed to be focus on taking a lot of 3-point shots, but recently have relied more on playing in the post.
“Getting back to having that advantage in the size and physicality they have down low has proved to be effective, and then you sprinkle in what Atkins has meant in this season for them so far, I think they’re starting to find that formula,” he said.
Kent said Saturday’s game is special to him, not just because it’s a primetime WNBA game in an iconic arena at the United Center, but because his dad, who is from Rockford, will be there in person.
“I’m a big believer, the better the league does, the better it is for everybody involved in the sport, and this is just a tremendous opportunity in primetime TV for a lot of people that maybe haven’t seen the WNBA yet to really get an idea of just how elite of a league this really is going to be,” he said.
The game tips off at 7:00 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.
