Liberty Fall to Angel Reese, Sky in Brooklyn Trap Game
BROOKLYN—The Chicago Sky pushed the New York Liberty back to Earth with an upset victory on Thursday night at Barclays Center.
Dueling double-doubles from Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese bullied the Liberty out of the win column, as the eliminated Sky took a 91-85 decision. New York (22-14), paced by 25 Jonquel Jones points in defeat, has not won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak at the top of the month.
Signs of Chicago's physical prowess were on display all over the box score and floor: Cardoso had 22 points and 15 rebounds while Reese countered with 21 and 10 boards. All but 14 of the Sky's tallies came either in the paint or at the foul line, as New York sorely missed its post women like Isabelle Harrison, Nyara Sabally, and Breanna Stewart.
The injuries, however, will likely do little to soothe Brooklyn concerns, as the Liberty dropped yet another game to a WNBA bottom-dweller, this one coming after a potential landmark victory over the Minnesota Lynx in the last of four WNBA Finals rematches. Chicago (9-26), recently eliminated from playoff contention, had lost five in a row entering Thursday night and all but one of their prior 14 showings overall.
But that didn't matter once the Sky got its interior game rolling, outrebounding New York by 15 despite the offensive battle being even. That proved particularly dangerous after the Liberty lost its three-point shooting touch making just 3-of-17 after going 50 percent (10-of-20) over the opening 20.
Chicago needed but one shot—an Ariel Atkins triple—away from the foul line or paint to swipe momentum in the second half, finishing things off on an 8-0 run after New York had an 85-83 lead with just under 2.5 minutes remaining. An Atkins jumper tied the game and she later created a permanent lead at the foul line.
Cardoso hit all but one of her tries from the field (5-of-5 on putbacks alone) while fellow starters Atkins, Reese, and ex-New Yorker Michaela Onyenwere were all 6-of-9. With that output, the Sky became the first team in WNBA history to have four starters hit at least two-thirds of their shots with a minimum of nine attempts.
This latest defeat spoiled the earning of several statistical landmarks for New Yorkers: Sabrina Ionescu became the third bearer of seafoam to reach 3,000 points in their uniform while Marine Johannes tied Crystal Robinson's single-season franchise record for most three-pointers off the bench with a flurry in the first half before she was held scoreless after that.
New York also welcomed back Courtney Vandersloot to Barclays Center and bestowed her the championship she earned last fall in a pregame ceremony. Vandersloot signed with the Sky, her original franchise for 12 seasons before two tours with New York, over the offseason but has partaken in just seven games due to a season-ending ACL injury.
The Liberty face a major road challenge in their next game on Saturday, as they face the Atlanta Dream in a high-profile matinee (2 p.m. ET, CBS). New York and Atlanta have exchanged the second seed on several occasions over the past few weeks and the Liberty have since dropped to fourth thanks to other results across the league, such as the Dream's win over aforementioned Minnesota.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.