With their season on the line, the No. 8 seed Chicago Sky will have to do something they haven’t done all season: beat the No. 1 seed Las Vegas Aces.
In Game 1, the Sky were outclassed, losing 87-59 with Vegas never trailing and leading by as many as 32 points. Every key player for the Aces had a productive game, with five players reaching double figures. For Chicago, nothing went right as they failed to produce enough offense to keep up with the Aces’ firepower. Kahleah Copper was the only Sky in double figures with 15 points.
Does Chicago have a path to victory?
Although Chicago has not beaten Las Vegas in 2023, they got close on Aug. 24, when they lost by just seven due to a weak fourth-quarter finish. Applying what worked then to this series, Chicago needs a big game from their guards Copper and Marina Mabrey. In Game 1, Mabrey struggled, scoring just seven points on 30 percent shooting; they’ll need more from her if they are going to win on the road in an elimination game.
The difficult aspect of this for Chicago is Las Vegas doesn’t have a weakness. So even if the Sky guards step up, the Aces can counter with Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. So, Chicago will need two things to go right to counter that counter. All guards will have to be elite on both…
