The Sky had a chance to retake their place in the postseason Sunday.
After the Mystics lost to the Dream, the Sky needed a win over the Mercury to return to eighth place. And things were looking good until the third quarter.
It was a scene far too familiar to the Sky: an opponent’s game-changing run. This time, however, there was a slight difference. Instead of wilting, the Sky remained steady, regaining a three-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Mercury shut them down.
The Sky’s 93-88 loss kept them at ninth in the league standings.
“That’s a veteran team over there,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “The bodies that we have, probably a little bit of fatigue. There’s a little bit of execution [issues] here on the offensive end, and we couldn’t get a defensive stop when we needed it [in the fourth quarter].”
Kamilla Cardoso aggravated her right shoulder in the Sky’s loss to the Lynx on Friday, the same one that sidelined her for six games at the beginning of the year. She started against Phoenix and was not on a minutes restriction.
But she only played nine minutes and had two points and three rebounds. She was held out of the second half because of pain in the shoulder.
“Her health is more important to me than anything,” Weatherspoon said. “When we spoke, that’s what she was feeling, and it’s more important to make sure she’s healthy.”
Weatherspoon didn’t specify if Cardoso will be available Tuesday against the Dream but said they will have a “next player up” mentality. At this point, the Sky’s injury list includes Angel Reese, Diamond DeShields, Elizabeth Williams and now Cardoso.
Forward Michaela Onyenwere played all 40 minutes for the Sky despite dealing with an unspecified injury, according to Weatherspoon. She had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Weatherspoon favored a small lineup against Phoenix, inserting guard Rachel Banham into the starting five to replace forward Isabelle Harrison. Instead of going to forward Brianna Turner because of Cardoso’s spare minutes, she preferred guard Dana Evans.
The results were positive. The Sky are the worst team in the league in made three-pointers. They shot 56% compared to the Mercury’s 37.5%.
Onyenwere went 4-for-6 from deep.
Chennedy Carter led the Sky with 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Banham had 17 points, shooting 5-for-11 from three-point range.
The Mercury were without leading scorer Kahleah Copper, who missed her second consecutive game with a back injury. Mercury center Brittney Griner and guard Diana Taurasi combined for 51 points. Guard Natasha Cloud added 18 points.
The Mystics, Sky and Dream are now in a three-way tie in the league standings with two games left. The Mystics own the tiebreaker over both teams.
The Sky are 2-1 against the Dream in head-to-head matchups. The Sky will need a win Tuesday to secure the tiebreaker advantage over them, but they’ll have to finish with a better record than the Mystics — a tie won’t be enough — to take the last playoff spot.
“We all have 13 wins,” Onyenwere said. “Us, Washington and Atlanta. We’re not out like [Weatherspoon] said. That’s motivation enough.”