LOOKS TO BE GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE
Ugly home loss leaves Sky with one-game lead for last playoff spot with four left
The three-team race among the Sky, Dream and Mystics for the eighth and final WNBA playoff spot offers some intriguing potential scenarios.
On Wednesday, the Sky failed to pad their advantage in the standings with an 89-58 loss to the Mystics at Wintrust Arena. It was their worst loss of the season and dropped them to 13-23 overall and 6-13 at home.
‘‘You don’t ever come to a basketball game thinking, ‘Oh, my energy is not going to be there,’’’ rookie center Kamilla Cardoso said. ‘‘We’re competitors. We come here every day, and we want to compete and win. I honestly don’t have an answer for you [on why our energy was low], but this was embarrassing.’’
Injuries have hindered the Sky all season. The team’s latest losses — forward Angel Reese (fractured wrist) is out for the rest of the season and shooting guard Diamond DeShields (sprained ankle) is out for an unspecified time — might prove to be insurmountable.
Reese was back on the Sky’s bench after having surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles to repair the wrist injury. She will be with the Sky for their final home game Sunday but won’t travel for their last three road games.
Guard Chennedy Carter led the Sky with 16 points. Cardoso added 13 points and eight rebounds and Isabelle Harrison 10 points.
‘‘There’s ways that you can lose,’’ coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. ‘‘But not like this. That’s not who we are.’’
Three-pointers have been a problem for the Sky all season, but it was further exposed against the Mystics, the team with the second-best three-point shooting percentage in the league. The Sky shot 1-for-8 from threepoint range to the Mystics’ 9-for-23.
Mystics rookie Aaliyah Edwards had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brittany Sykes added 14 points and former Sky forward Sika Kone 11.
‘‘We went over every single play that they ran,’’ Weatherspoon said. ‘‘Every bit of what our defensive schemes are and should be and how we must be better on that side of the ball. We didn’t do that.’’
The loss left the Sky with a one-game lead over the Dream and Mystics in the playoff battle. Each team has four games left.
The Sky play the Lynx on the road Friday, host the Mercury on Sunday and end the regular season with a two-game road trip Tuesday against the Dream and next Thursday against the Sun.
The Mystics’ and Dream’s remaining schedules add to the drama. They will play each other Friday in Atlanta and Sunday in Washington. After hosting the Sky on Tuesday, the Dream will close the season against the Liberty. The Mystics, meanwhile, will face the Liberty and Fever in their final two regular-season games.
‘‘To spiral and let games go like that would be careless,’’ Harrison said. ‘‘That’s not the type of players we are. So I hate saying ‘short-term memory’ because you want to fix what’s going on now, but you do [have to have one]. You have to go into the next game and just come out from the start ready to play.’’