Sky vs. Sparks: Chicago Scores 34 in the Fourth Quarter to Pull Away for 95-88 Win

The Chicago Sky spent the middle of Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena doing their best impression of a team that had misplaced its offense. They scored 33 points in the first quarter, just 28 in the next two combined, and started the fourth trailing the Los Angeles Sparks by a point.

Then they dropped 34 in the final 10 minutes, shot 12 for 15 while doing it, and pulled away for a 95-88 win. Natasha Cloud, Kamilla Cardoso and Jacy Sheldon finished with 15 points apiece, and that closing quarter was about as pretty as basketball gets in a 12-19 season.

Thirty-Three, Then a Nap, Then 34

The Sky led just 20-18 late in the first when a 13-0 run in under two minutes blew things open at 33-18. Los Angeles answered immediately, scoring eight straight across the quarter break to make it 33-26. Chicago kept the Sparks at arm's length for a while, building a 48-33 lead in the final minutes of the half.

Then the Sparks got hot and the Sky went cold. An 11-0 Los Angeles run stretching from 1:05 of the second quarter to 7:21 of the third took a 15-point hole down to 48-44. Chicago managed only 13 points in the third, the Sparks scored 24, and suddenly the visitors held a 62-61 lead with 10 minutes to go. Anyone who had left at the 33-18 mark would not have recognized the game.

The fourth started as a coin flip, with Chicago clinging to a 70-69 edge at 7:40. After that the Sky simply stopped missing. Cloud and Sheldon made 3s on consecutive trips, and an 8-0 stretch finished by DiJonai Carrington's driving layup at 4:53 pushed it to 83-72. Courtney Vandersloot's 23-footer at 2:56 made it 89-78, Cardoso hit four straight free throws, and Elizabeth Williams' bucket at 1:25 made it 95-81. Erica Wheeler's 25-foot pull-up with 4.3 seconds left simply trimmed the final margin.

Cloud Conducted, Everyone Else Played Along

Cloud was the engine, and she was spotless doing it. She went 6 of 10 for her 15, added nine of Chicago's 28 assists, grabbed five rebounds and took two steals, and she played 32 minutes without committing a foul. Sheldon was just as tidy, hitting 3 of 5 from deep with three assists and zero turnovers. Cardoso did most of her damage the hard way, going 7 of 9 at the line with seven rebounds and two blocks, though five fouls kept things interesting.

The depth is what turned a good quarter into a winning one, especially with Sydney Taylor sitting out with a groin injury. Williams gave the Sky 14 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting and finished plus-12. Rookie Aicha Coulibaly scored a season-high 13, needing only five shots to do it and going 5 for 5 at the line. Rachel Banham added eight more as a reserve, and DiJonai Carrington went plus-11 with six points and four rebounds in just 12 minutes. Vandersloot committed five turnovers but still chipped in nine points and five assists.

For Los Angeles, Dearica Hamby was outstanding: 22 points, 14 rebounds and four assists on 8-of-12 shooting. Wheeler scored 14 on 6-of-9 from the field, Rae Burrell had 13 points and five assists, and Cameron Brink squeezed 11 points and three blocks into 14 minutes while picking up five fouls of her own. The soft spots were elsewhere. Ariel Atkins went 2 of 7 from deep, and Nneka Ogwumike was 5 of 13 for her 10 points.

Three Minutes in the Fourth

The swing happened fast. From that 70-69 score at 7:40, Chicago outscored Los Angeles 13-3, and the Sparks went more than three minutes without a field goal while it happened. That is a brutal time to go dry, because the Sky were making everything. For a team that had been stuck in mud for two quarters, the sudden switch was almost comical. Twelve makes on 15 shots means the misses were the rare event, and Los Angeles simply could not trade baskets with that.

It also undid all the good the Sparks had done by battling back. They had erased a 15-point deficit, grabbed three times as many offensive rebounds as Chicago, and held a lead going into the final period. Then they gave up 34 points in 10 minutes, which is the kind of defensive number that wipes out everything that came before it.

Stats That Matter

• 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting: Chicago's fourth quarter, after 28 points in the second and third combined.
• 28 on 35: The Sky assisted on 28 of their 35 made field goals.
• 9-3: Offensive rebounds for Los Angeles, part of a 35-29 edge on the glass that did not save them.
• 16-12: Total turnovers, with Chicago turning them into an 18-15 edge in points off giveaways.
• 28-21: Chicago's advantage in bench scoring.

What It Means

Chicago improved to 12-19 and 8-8 at home, with three wins in its last four games, and it took the three-game season series from Los Angeles 2-1. The Sky host Indiana at the United Center on Saturday.

The Sparks dropped to 11-18 and 6-9 on the road, and the schedule shows no mercy. They play again on Thursday night in Minneapolis, where a Lynx team riding a 10-game winning streak will be waiting with fresh legs.

A Very Nolan Evening

Chicago's night had a Christopher Nolan structure: a huge opening, a middle nobody could quite follow, and a final act so loud you forgot you had ever been confused. Nobody will mistake a 95-88 win over an 11-18 team for a turning point in the franchise's history. But if you are going to spend two quarters baffling your own fans, this is the way to make it up to them. Ask them about the second and third quarters tomorrow and they will not remember a thing.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press.