Wednesday morning Wade told the Sun-Times the team had no updates on the condition of Parker’s ankle.
After Tuesday night’s 80-76 loss to the Dallas Wings, the Sky face a difficult and familiar problem: Candace Parker’s health.
Following her debut in a Sky uniform, Parker was sidelined with an ankle sprain for eight games, during which the team went on a seven-game losing streak. It was the worst skid since 2012 when the Sky dropped nine straight.
With six minutes left in the third quarter last night, Wings forward Kayla Thornton made a cut behind Parker under the basket and clipped her left ankle. The same ankle she injured at the top of the season.
Parker fell to the floor in pain before she was helped up from the court. She limped to the bench on her own and sat for a moment before walking back to the locker room.
When Parker emerged in the fourth quarter, she had ice on her left ankle and both knees.
Coach and general manager James Wade said after the game that he was optimistic because she was not experiencing the same swelling she did in May.
Wednesday morning Wade told the Sun-Times the team had no updates on the condition of Parker’s ankle.
Parker shared a tweet that said, “Control what you can, the rest [whatever].”
Control what you can the rest ♀️
— Candace Parker (@Candace_Parker) August 18, 2021
As the playoffs inch closer and the pressure of securing a top seed mounts, can the Sky win without Parker?
Assuming Parker is not sidelined for a lengthy period, the Sky are still challenged without her at all. Up next on the schedule is a home game against the Minnesota Lynx who, before losing to Connecticut Sun Tuesday night, were riding an eight-game win streak into the Olympic break.
Then they set out on a five-game road trip that includes two games against Seattle and one against reigning MVP A’Ja Wilson and the first-place Las Vegas Aces.
Beyond her productivity on the court, Parker leads the team in rebounding, is second in assists and third in scoring, she brings the kind of energy that the team is in desperate need of right now.
All season the Sky have struggled with starting slow on the offensive end of the court, but that issue has been amplified in the first two games back since the Olympic break.
Against the Storm on Sunday the Sky scored six points through the first seven minutes of play before Allie Quigley came off the bench and sunk three three-pointers in a row. On Tuesday night, the Sky were shooting 18% through much of the first quarter scoring just four points in the first six minutes of play.
Following the team’s four-point loss in a game where they gave up 17 second-chance points, players and Wade emphasized that the team’s energy is not where it needs to be.
“That’s lack of focus on closing out the play,” Azurá Stevens said. “We had certain stops that were good and we just weren’t locked in to get that final part of the play finished.”
The team is in a different place than it was at the beginning of the season when Parker went down. For one, Quigley is healthy and as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Kahleah Copper has played a pivotal role coming off the bench. She shot nearly 78% from three on Tuesday night.
Changes to the starting five are coming for the Sky’s Saturday game. Wade has already been playing with different starters at the five, playing Astou Ndour-Fall in place of Stefanie Dolson against the Storm and Stevens on Tuesday. Moving Quigley back to the starting rotation and having Diamond DeShields come off the bench could be a change fans see on the wing.
“We’ve given our lineup a chance the last two games,” Wade said.
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/3xZhkt9
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