Last season, playoffs were the Sky’s goal. This season, they were the expectation.
In a condensed season full of twists and turns, the Sky (11-6) met that expectation Tuesday night, clinching a postseason berth for the second consecutive year by virtue of the Indiana Fever losing to the Atlanta Dream.
With five games left in the regular season, the Sky are one of five teams to already earn a postseason berth. They join the Lynx, who also clinched Tuesday night, Storm, Sparks and Aces.
The Sky have dealt with their fair share of adversity. After the WNBA had to postpone the start of the season two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Sky suffered their first blow of the season, losing forward Jantel Lavender in June after she had season-ending foot surgery. Then, they dealt with injuries to Diamond DeShields, Stefanie Dolson, Cheyenne Parker and Azura Stevens.
Over the last week, the Sky have experienced a flurry of changes to their roster. Hours before the trade deadline last Friday, the Sky traded Lavender and draft picks to the Fever for forward Stephanie Mavunga. The next morning, DeShields (personal reasons) and Stevens (season-ending knee injury) left the bubble in Bradenton, Florida. The Sky on Monday signed free-agent forward Alisia Jenkins for extra frontcourt depth.
“It was a lot,” Dolson said of all the changes. “One thing we all knew this season was going to do to us was keep us on our toes, so I think we all handled it pretty well. ... Fortunately, it’s our job to kind of move on and focus on the next day and what’s our task and I think everybody did it well. ... We’re just ready to keep moving.”
With DeShields on restricted minutes from the get-go, coach James Wade put guard Kahleah Copper in the starting lineup, where she’s flourished. In fact, Copper has made a convincing argument for the league’s Most Improved Player award this season.
Entering Wednesday’s game, Copper is averaging a team-high 15.7 points — up sharply from the 6.7 she averaged off the bench last season.
Gabby Williams and Parker are also putting up career-best numbers.
And then there’s Courtney Vandersloot, who’s made herself a Most Valuable Player award candidate.
Vandersloot, who shattered the WNBA’s single-game assist record Monday dishing out 18 in a win over the Fever, is on pace to break the league’s single-season assist record — which she’s set in each of the last three seasons — averaging a league-high 9.3 assists, entering Wednesday’s game. She’s also averaging a career-high 13.2 points on 48.3% shooting.
Despite all the challenges they’ve had to face this season, the Sky are in the midst of their second best season in franchise history.
Earning a playoff spot during this season-in-a-bubble means more because of what the Sky overcame to get here, Parker said.
But they’re not done yet, she quickly added.
“It [is] a good challenge for us with everything that’s happened ... over the course of the season, everything that we’ve been through as a unit,” Parker said Tuesday before the Sky officially clinched. “[Making the postseason] would mean a lot for us to come out and make a statement and to do what we came here to do and that’s to win a championship.”
The Sky, who are currently the No. 5 seed in the playoff picture, face Wade’s former team, the Lynx, Wednesday night. The Lynx are one of only two teams the Sky haven’t beat this season, with the other being the Seattle Storm.
The Sky know the importance of winning this game in order to potentially earn a higher seed, even if they tried to downplay it.
“We actually haven’t talked about it much,” Dolson said. “We don’t talk about the standings often, but we all know, we all look everyday and whatever games are going on we’re looking at the standings, so we know it’s there, we know how important this game is but in this season, honestly every game is at a heightened importance, so no matter what, we’re going into it and we’ve just gotta win.”
