Sky Feel Absence of Veterans in Loss to Dream
The Chicago Sky dropped their recent matchup with the Minnesota Lynx and were looking to avenge themselves with a quick turnaround against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, but that was not nearly the case.
The Sky looked all out of sorts and got run out of their own building in a crushing 86-49 loss, and there was a major reason for such a lopsided defeat.
They were without their veterans Angel Reese and Ariel Atkins as they were nursing injuries who are also major backbones of the team and really carry that veteran presence on and off the court.
The Sky play so much better as a team and communicate well when both are healthy and are out there on the court.
final.@UChicagoMed | #skytown pic.twitter.com/zJyJM5hdXJ
— Chicago Sky (@chicagosky) July 16, 2025
Sky's shooting woes without Atkins and Reese
It seemed like the Sky were not even ready to start this game against the Dream as they were down 18 points at the half and it just got worse as each quarter went on.
The Sky shot 18-71 from the field, went 7-20 from three-point land, and only scored 18 points in the paint. They were outdone in every shooting aspect of the contest.
Over her past 5 games, Reese has been shooting 50% or better and over Atkins's past month or so, she's been shooting well too.
The Sky really could have used their presence in this game and actually put up a fight against the Dream.
Atkins and Reese are key components, and Sky will lose more games if both are not healthy after the break
It is pretty easy to see that the Sky rely on Reese and Atkins a lot and the fact that they shot that poorly and played that poorly without them, speaks volumes.
Their injuries right before the all-star break were seriously unfortunate, but the Sky will drop a lot more games as the summer goes on, if both players miss more time.
They need both players out there as team morale is up and they fight harder when they are both healthy. The Sky better hope and pray they get both back when they get back underway on Tuesday July 22 again against the Lynx.
Tyler is a 25 year old Journalism graduate from Georgia Southern University. Tyler is a big fan of hockey, baseball, basketball, and football, and also is a staff writer for Fansided.