Angel Reese finally made her return to the court on Tuesday night.
It just wasn't enough to lead the Chicago Sky to a win.
Reese dropped a team-high 19 points and had seven rebounds in their 94-88 loss to the Seattle Storm at Wintrust Arena on Tuesday. She shot 9-of-13 from the field, too. It marked her first game back in several weeks while dealing with a back injury. Reese was on a minutes restriction and played in just 26 despite being in the starting lineup.
“I want to hoop,” she said before the game, via the Chicago Sun Times. “I’m just happy to be out here to play the game I love.”
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Both Reese and the Sky didn't elaborate much on her injury or recovery over the seven games she missed. Reese said before the game that she'd address it at the end of the year. She missed two road trips and one home game recovering.
“Put all the bulls**t to the side, I wanna hoop," she said.
Reese entered the night averaging 14.2 points and 12.6 rebounds per game this season. She hadn't played since the team’s loss to the Washington Mystics on July 29. She had 22 points and 13 rebounds in that contest.
The Storm led nearly the entire way on Tuesday night, and surged ahead just before halftime while limiting Chicago to just 14 points as a group. Though they scored only six points as a group in the second half of the third period, the Storm still carried a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter. That was just enough for them to fend off the Sky's late surge and escape with the six-point win.
Ariel Atkins added 19 points, five assists and five rebounds to go with Reese's 19 points in the loss for Chicago. Kamilla Cardoso finished with 10 points, and Elizabeth Williams finished with 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench. The Sky went just 8-of-16 as a group from behind the 3-point line, too, and put up 38 points in the final quarter to get within striking distance.
The Sky won just a single game without Reese and hold one of the worst records in the league at 8-26 with their latest loss, which is better than only the Connecticut Sun. They’ve been all-but eliminated from postseason contention, too.
Skylar Diggins led the Storm with 24 points and six assists in the win. Nneka Ogwumike added 21 points and six rebounds, and Dominique Malonga put up 15 points off the bench. The Storm are also in the midst of a rough stretch. They entered the night having lost lost seven of their last eight. The win brought them back to 18-18 on the season, however, which has them in eighth in the league standings.
Though Reese's second season in the league isn't much better from a team perspective, she's at least in a position to finish out the year on the court. That has to count for something.
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