The Chicago Sky have a busy August. They have eleven games scheduled in August, the last full month of the regular season. With a record of 14-10, the Sky have already topped last year’s win total of 13. Despite this success, I believe most of the Chicago Sky faithful expect at least a playoff berth from this team given how well they’ve played this season. Let’s take a look at the upcoming matches for the Sky in August, their best and worst case scenarios, and where they’ll be on September 1st.
VS. LA SPARKS AUGUST 16th
The Sky should come out of this one with a W. They played a close match up against the La Sparks last Sunday losing by a mere 3 points. Getting to play on their home court will be all the Sky need to win this one. They do have their challenges with Jantel Lavender out for an unknown amount of time and Jamierra Faulkner still out due to a concussion, but the deep bench has proven they have the quality to rise to the occasion.
VS. LAS VEGAS ACES AUGUST 18th
The Aces are one of the best teams in the WNBA. They are title favorites by many critics and fans alike. They currently ranked 4th in the standings at 16-9. With key players like A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage, the Aces will likely be a bit too much for the Sky this time around. Having a 48-hour turnaround from the La Sparks game doesn’t help the Sky either.
@ ATLANTA DREAM AUGUST 20th
Despite their bad record, the Atlanta Dream are not to be taken lightly. The WNBA is the most competitive league in basketball. The gap between first and last is very slim and anyone can beat anybody on any given night. Still, I expect the Sky to have a solid win versus the Dream. The Sky have a nasty habit of letting teams linger when they should have an easy win. But with the season getting late, I expect them to do what winning teams do and win the games they are supposed to with some comfort.
VS. MYSTICS AUGUST 23rd
Elena Delle Donne can’t beat the Sky forever right? Since requesting a trade from the Sky and joining the Washington Mystics, EDD has beaten the Chicago Sky every time she has played against them. Obviously it’s not just a revenge game. The Mystics are an elite team. They have star players, veteran leadership, and reached the Finals last season. They are currently at the top of the league at 17-7 and will be favorites to make a deep playoff run. Will the Sky finally beat their former star? I sure hope so, but I’m voting no. Only because the narrative of EDD beating the Sky is a compelling one and having it continue only adds intrigue.
@ PHOENIX MERCURY AUGUST 25th
At the time of this article the Phoenix Mercury are in the midst of a controversy. They had a brawl with the Dallas Wings where six players were ejected. The brawl was big news and negative news for both teams and the WNBA. I expect some longer suspensions to come down, which could affect the roster. With all of this drama and a disappointing season, it will be hard for the Mercury to stay on task and win games. The Sky should be able to win this game and take care of business.
@ MINNESOTA LYNX AUGUST 27th
This one seems to be a pretty balanced matchup. The Lynx have been up and down all season. But when they are at their best, they look like one of the best teams in the league. It’s amazing they got the potential ROY and steal of the draft Naphessa Collier on their roster. With it being a pick em game, I’ll side with the Sky. They need to win some tough games in August to be successful, so this one won’t be easy but I’ll side with the Sky.
VS. DALLAS WINGS AUGUST 29th
Another sneaky tough game. The Wings are in a transition year. They are currently in a transition year and are 7-17 which puts them in the bottom two of the league. They are well coached and have a rising star in Arike Ogunbowale. No games are easy in the WNBA but this is another game where the Sky just need to take care of business and win.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With seven games left in August I have the Sky going 5-2 finishing the month on a three game win streak. I think this is a pretty realistic outlook given the schedule’s difficulty and considering other factors such as frequency of games. What do you think? Will the Sky go 7-0, 0-7 and somewhere in between. I have the Sky at 19-11 heading into September, how about you?
