When the Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces laced up for their 2020 season opener Sunday afternoon, it came on the heels of a roughly two-month delay spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic — and on the Feld Entertainment Center floor inside the “Wubble” at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Aces stars Liz Cambage, who opted out of the season, and Kelsey Plum, sidelined due to injury, didn’t grace the floor. Neither did Jantel Lavender or Sydney Colson for Chicago, and Diamond DeShields played just 15 minutes off the bench with nagging knee troubles. A bit of sloppiness might have been expected, given the long layoff and adverse circumstances coloring the tip-off.
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But no such stumbling occurred. The Sky and Aces — not-so-sneakily one of the most gripping rivalries in sports right now — combined to produce the most exciting contest of the young season, playing free and fast basketball throughout. It was a game of runs through which the Aces mostly clung to the advantage, but the Sky got the last laugh when Allie Quigley sank a side-step 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to give them an 88-86 lead that held through the finish.
Forget the Hamby Heave. Forget Quigley’s 4-for-12 shooting line for the day. This, which capped a 11-0 Sky sprint in the final three-and-a-half minutes, is ice:
(Plus, shoutout to both Stefanie Dolson for that screen, which put Jackie Young completely off balance, and James Wade for the play design. High-level basketball from start to finish, by both sides.)
With the shot, a heart-wrenching, sense-defying 93-92 2019 playoff defeat at the hands of the Aces is avenged. And in rather poetic fashion, at that.
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“Definitely thought about it,” Quigley told Holly Rowe when asked how front-of-mind that loss was during the opener. “I knew we wanted this revenge, and to get them back at the last second, too. So it was a sweet way to end it.”
With DeShields’ playing time limited, spark-plug reserve Kahleah Copper got the start, slashed her way to a team-high 18 points and seemed to be in the middle of every big play for Chicago — including a contested defensive rebound that granted the Sky the possession that ended with Quigley’s shot. In her Sky debut — and first WNBA action since last June — Azurá Stevens also started, and showed out early. Ten of her 12 points, and both of her two 3-pointers, came in the first quarter, as she flashed some of the “unicorn” potential coach James Wade has lauded as a fastbreak ball handler, passer and shooter.
Gabby Williams (14) and Quigley (10) also finished in double-figures, and Courtney Vandersloot typically tossed 11 assists. The Sky shot just 9-for-27 from 3 (the Aces took just five, missing all of them), were outrebounded 42-33 and were outscored sizably in the paint, but came up clutch when it mattered. That they pulled this one out largely without DeShields is encouraging in a vacuum, but her health remains vital to a team with unapologetic championship aspirations.
A’ja Wilson and Angel McCoughtry starred for Vegas, combining for a whopping 47 points and 19 rebounds. It was McCoughtry’s first game action since Aug. 7, 2018 — she missed all of 2019 rehabbing a torn ACL — but the 33-year-old clearly has a ton left in the tank.
And more important than the game action itself: In a show of solidarity and tribute, both teams stood together to honor Breonna Taylor’s life before the game, and emblazoned Taylor’s name across the backs of their jerseys.
Fresh off a riveting opener, the Sky’s schedule doesn’t let up. Next up are the Los Angeles Sparks, who dismantled a loaded Phoenix Mercury squad 99-76 on Saturday, this Tuesday.