The predictable happened Sunday: With the Sky’s loss to the Fever and the Mystics’ win, the Sky were eliminated from playoff contention.
Reaching the eighth and final playoff spot remained a goal after the All-Star break, and the Sky have played much better in the second half. They simply had dug themselves too deep a hole.
Meanwhile, the tension between the Sky and Fever — and around the WNBA — kept simmering.
DiJonai Carrington circled the date of Sunday’s game on social media after she was ejected from the teams’ previous matchup for a flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham. She also wrote “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on Threads in a since-deleted post.
There were no ejections this time, but sparks did fly.
After being called for a foul on Caitlin Clark, Carrington pulled her head back in exaggerated fashion, insinuating Clark had flopped. The two exchanged words. Two possessions later, Clark hit a step-back three-pointer, then had a few more words for Carrington, who finished with seven points on 3-for-11 shooting.
The game was close until it wasn’t.
The Sky took a one-point lead into halftime, powered by their bench mob. Rookie Aicha Coulibaly had one of her best games of the season, scoring 12 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting. Natasha Cloud led the Sky with 16 points, and Azura Stevens added 14.
But the Sky fell apart in the fourth quarter as the Fever’s offense proved too much. Clark led the way with 34 points, while Kelsey Mitchell added 28.
Coach Tyler Marsh maintained that the Sky still have a lot to play for.
“I don’t think anybody in the locker room is ready to mail it in,” he said. “We all understand we got a job to do. We got an organization and city to continue to play for. We got a lot of young players that still have time to continue to develop. We’re not just playing for the right now, we’re playing for the future too.”
Courtside clowns
After hitting a big shot in the third quarter, Cloud turned and yelled at former NBA player Enes Freedom, who was sitting courtside in a shirt defining a woman as an “adult female.”
Freedom recently announced his supposed entry into the WNBA draft, an obvious stunt meant to mock the league and demean transgender people.
Ever since Cunningham publicly opposed transgender women competing in women’s sports, grifters and provocateurs have used the WNBA to advance their agendas.
Cloud let Freedom know what she thought of his presence, and teammates had to pull her away.
Marsh said he told Cloud that the team embraces her as “someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected.”
Growing pains
After playing the hero against the Valkyries, rookie Sydney Taylor had a tough night against the Fever, shooting 2-for-9. Marsh thought she forced things early but had earned grace.
“I just told her: Look, you’ve been who you’ve been for this team, and you’re going to continue to be that for a lot longer. You’re going to have a lot more game-winners, and you’re going to have a lot more [crappy] games. That comes with being a future star in this league.”