WNBA: Angel Reese, Kamilla Cardoso big games not enough for Chicago Sky

WASHINGTON — The Chicago Sky were coming off five-straight losses by at least 13 points entering their Tuesday night showdown with the Washington Mystics at CareFirst Arena. Three of those losses were by less than 20 points, while the other two, which were by 38 and 37, came without both MVP candidate Angel Reese and the team’s second-leading scorer in Ariel Atkins.

In the seven-game stretch before that, the Sky were 4-3 with close losses to good teams in the Mystics and Golden State Valkyries, as well as the league-leading Minnesota Lynx. That stretch was even capped off with a win over the Lynx that left the team in ninth place and just 2.5 games out of a playoff spot with a 7-13 record.

With Reese was back Tuesday night, Chicago (now 7-19, 12th place, six games out of a playoff spot) losing by a more-respectable margin, 103-86, was expected. They also demonstrated a lot of heart, something the team has maintained despite the absences they’ve been dealing with. Zachary Draves saw a similar “fighting spirit” during the Sky’s previous contest, a 93-78 loss to the 14-12 Indiana Fever on Sunday, which also came without Reese and Atkins.

The final margin from Tuesday isn’t indicative of how close the game really was, but a loss is a loss, so let’s start with what went wrong for Chicago.

Defensive woes

The Mystics had a dream offensive outing, and while they deserve a lot of the credit for that, the Sky have to hold themselves somewhat responsible. Washington rookie All-Star Sonia Citron went off for 28 points on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

When asked what went wrong on defense, and on Citron, in particular, Sky head coach Tyler Marsh didn’t bemoan perimeter defense as much as he expressed discontent with the 52 paint points his team surrendered:

We had a tough time keeping their guards in front a little bit. They got hot in our zone a couple times. But this is a team that thrives on the paint, and we didn’t do a great job of protecting the paint today, and that was the difference in the game.

The Mystics had success both in the paint and from downtown, and that combination was killer. They were 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) from 3, giving them 30 points from out there to go along with the 52 paint points. That’s 82 points from the analytically-key areas. The other 21 points came at the free throw line. Nothing came from the analytically-dreaded non-paint area inside the arc (Washington was 0-for-4 from that region; ironically, the Sky were 6-for-8). A dream outing, indeed. The Sky needed to do more to disrupt the Mystics, and Marsh is probably right to harp on protecting the paint because those are the easy buckets a team simply can’t allow.

The Mystics shot 50.7 percent from the field for the game, including 58.8 in the first half. They scored 30 points in the first quarter.

Offensive success

Chicago nearly matched Washington basket for basket in that opening frame, finishing it with 27 points. At times, the Sky weren’t scoring with the same ease as the Mystics, but they had their moments of excellence. They finished with a decent 31.6 percent clip from downtown (6-for-19), and really shone in overall field goal percentage (45.1) and free throw efficiency (16-for-18; 88.9 percent, which topped Washington’s 77.8).

The 86 points the Sky scored were nine more than their second-to-worst-in-the-league season average of 77. They were also better than the averages of 12 of the 13 WNBA teams, with only the New York Liberty’s 87.7 being higher.

Marsh has this to say about his team’s offense:

I thought we executed pretty well offensively; we were able to get (Kamilla Cardoso) some good looks, and Angel was extremely aggressive tonight, too. They both did what they could from an offensive standpoint, and we really needed that boost. Rachel (Banham) was great tonight offensively as well. I think that offense wasn’t the issue. We were able to get to the line a little bit. We knocked down some shots at times. We got some other good looks that just didn’t fall; those are things that you can’t control too much. It’s tough to win games when you give up 100-plus.

Chi Barbie stars in return

Reese was phenomenal in her return from her back injury, recording her 11th-straight double-double, tying her second-highest scoring total of the season with 22 points and hauling in 13 rebounds (above her WNBA-leading season average of 12.6). She had game highs in rebounds, blocks (two) and steals (three; tied), and a team-high-tying three assists.

Entering the game, she had a five-game streak of shooting over 50 percent from the field (nine in a row of shooting 43.8 or better). Those runs came to an end with her registering just 37.5 percent from the floor. However, she improved in the second half, shooting 3-for-5 after a 3-for-11 effort in the first. She was also 10-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Marsh offered the following on Reese’s return:

I think you saw Angel’s impact today, and it’s not just with post-to-post looks. It’s her ability to add another ball handler into the lineup, which takes a little bit of pressure off of Rachel. She had a few steals tonight as well, so her impact defensively. The passion that she plays with, the enthusiasm that she gives her teammates. We’ve certainly missed her the last (two) games, And I think you saw what it can look like at times when she’s back and in the lineup. To be able to play 32 minutes after missing the amount of time that she did is a testament to her.

In the first quarter, Reese was 5-for-6 on freebies and scored twice inside, including one time after collecting two of her own misses.

Some have tried to argue that she shouldn’t get so much credit as a great rebounder when she rebounds so many of her own misses, but she did have one offensive rebound off someone else’s miss in this game, as well as eight defensive rebounds.

Also, some of her rebounds off her own misses were impressive, like the one she corralled while on the floor before assisting a Cardoso layup, even as she remained on the floor. Later in the second quarter, she scored on a layup to give her 11 points in the opening half, but also picked up her first two fouls in the final three minutes before the break.

In the third, on a possession following her own steal, she made a field goal from the free throw line. She followed that by picking up her third foul on the ensuing possession. Later in the third, she took it the length of the court off her own block, drew a foul and buried two free throws. She received loud cheers when she was introduced before the game, but received a mix of boos and encouragement when at the line throughout the night.

She picked up her fourth and fifth fouls 25 seconds apart around the four-minute mark of the third. The fifth was challenged by Marsh but upheld.

After doing such a good job of not fouling early, she picked up five fouls in under 10 minutes and had to take a seat at a moment when her team really needed her. What had mostly been a close game up to that point was starting to slip away, as the Sky were down 15 points.

The Sky still played with heart

Things got worse before they got better, but they did get better.

The Mystics went up 19 before the Sky went on an 8-0 over the final 1:17 of the third. After several offensive rebounds by the team, Cardoso finally put it in the hoop to cut it to 80-63. Michaela Onyenwere scored next on a driving layup while falling down and converted the 3-point play to cut it to 80-66. Banham then showed off her handles before rattling in a difficult step-back trey that brought it to 80-69 at the buzzer.

This effort to close the third was not at all indicative of a 7-19 team that has given up on its season, nor one that was intimidated playing on the road against a very good Mystics team.

Banham had this to say after the game:

I thought that we competed. I mean, there’s still those moments that we all see where we just have to handle adversity better. Like we talked about in the locker room: too many points in the paint. They had those runs of 3s where we didn’t make the adjustments soon enough to stop that. So it’s those things that we have to clean up. But I didn’t think it was lack of trying.

Reese continued the heroics when she checked back in—on the verge of fouling out—with 8:34 remaining in the contest. Washington had gone back up 16, but Reese drove aggressively on Citron and finished a layup through contact before adding a free throw that cut it to 85-72.

Angel would later go on a 4-0 individual run to cut it to 11 with 6:06 left.

Her last big play came when she was guarding Citron and blocked and caught a pass attempt by the rookie; Kia Nurse drained a step-back 3 on the ensuing possession to cut it to nine with 4:20 to play. Cardoso went 1-for-2 at the stripe with 3:22 remaining to cut it to eight, a considerable accomplishment, but Chicago wouldn’t get any closer.

Cardoso was nearly as good as Reese in this game; she finished with 21 points (8-for-16 from the field; 5-for-6 from the stripe) and 10 rebounds. She has a double-double streak of her own going, with four straight.

More big play from Banham

Banham finished 3-for-8 from deep. She was not afraid to fire at any moment; Washington knew this and gave her very little space. She has always been a deadly 3-point shooter, but is now flirting with averaging double-figure scoring for the first time in her career. She’s also playing a career-high 23.1 minutes per game.

Starting point guard Courtney Vandersloot was lost for the season to a torn ACL on June 7. Banham’s minutes increased after that, then went back down. Since June 22, her playing time has been up again. She’s started and played at least 22 minutes in every game, including a then-career-high 36 minutes on Sunday when she dropped a season-high 26 points. She only increased that career high in playing time on Tuesday, playing 37 minutes with 19 points.

After her starring Sunday performance, she seemed determined to keep her momentum going, attempting a 3 just 47 seconds in. Seeing her play live, you see just how much of a problem she is. At 32 years old, she’s not quite past her prime and playing the best basketball of her WNBA career. We know Reese, Atkins and Cardoso are going to play like stars. If Banham can continue putting up big scoring numbers, it should make Chicago much more competitive.

When asked about the ball handling she shows off when being guarded so tightly, Banham had this to say:

I really have no choice. I know the team’s gonna pressure me. Every guard that’s guarding me is faster than me, so just using some of my handles, but also using my body. I’m bigger than most guards, so I’m trying to just use my strength. And use my shooting ability to kind of keep them off balance. It really helps when they have to play me that close because I do have the opportunity to get by and then find our bigs. So, yeah, a little And 1 mixtape; trying to work on my little handle out there.

Reese (laughing):

Minnesota days, like those Big Ten highlights.

Banham:

Yeah, I’m tryin’ to pull a little something out my bag, my little bag.