The Toronto Tempo have had the Chicago Sky’s number so far in their short existence.
Led by another commanding performance from Nyara Sabally, the Tempo took down the Sky for a second time this season on Sunday as they dominated the paint en route to an 85-68 win, bringing their record to 6-5. Toronto is also now 1-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup after dropping their first game at the New York Liberty on Wednesday.
Sabally’s excelled against the Sky this season. She put up a career-high 29 points on outrageous efficiency the last time the two teams met in Chicago, and was on pace for even more on Sunday after scoring 10 in the first quarter. She picked Sky guard Jacy Sheldon and ran out for the finish, used deft footwork to maneuver baseline and drop in a floater and was a force on the roll.
The six-foot-five big also stuffed Sky centre Camilla Kardoso with a two-handed contest.
Size can be deceptive in basketball.
Kardoso is among the leagues tallest players at six-foot-seven, yet Sabally has played bigger in their two matchups. What she gives up in height has been more than made up for in strength and guile. Kardoso scored only two points in their first matchup in Chicago.
While Sabally was bashing and bruising down low, Toronto’s big-money backcourt showed they weren’t afraid to still grind it out too. Brittney Sykes, who insists on being called Slim, pushed off a rebound, going the length of the floor and slicing through traffic for a tough finish. She drove the rim early and often. Meanwhile Mabrey had a hard block on Sheldon and high-pointed a rebound.
Their shot making wasn’t there to the same level that it usually is — Mabrey attempted only one 3 in the first half, coming off a wide screen and drilling it in a phone booth — as the Sky loaded up and ran her off the line. But she took advantage of the coverage by continually finding Sabally rolling to the rim with clever passes.
The reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, Mabrey, subtly snuck another pass through a blitz to Sabally who drove for the offhanded finish, putting the Tempo up 48-33 at halftime.
The start of the second half was more of the same. Slim was relentless getting to the rim. Mabrey missed a shot but grabbed a steal — if she isn’t going to score, she’s still going to make a difference. Laura Juskaite made a fadeaway and drew free throws with heady, aggressive play. It feels like the Tempo are settling into their identity, both as individuals and how they fit together as a collective, and they rode that to a comfortable win.
Slim established her driving game further as the game went on. She had 13 in the third to bring her scoring total to a team-high 22 through three frames. But even when Slim missed — coming off a get action into a double drag screen — Isabelle Harrison was there to clean it up for the and-1 putback.
Harrison made her season debut Sunday after missing all but one day of training camp and the first 10 games of the season with a right hand injury.
A previous New York Liberty player under Brondello, Harrison scored 14 and added six rebounds in 17 minutes.
“She’s worked her butt off,” Brondello said. “I think what she brings is veteran leadership. She’s a big body, so rim protection helps. It’s the screening and rolling and finishing at the rim.”
Harrison was seen working on her screening and rolling footwork before the game, along with shooting and post-ups. Her first Tempo basket came after she was the screener for Maria Conde in Gut Chicago, popped atop the three-point arc and splashed a triple. Soon after, she ghosted a screen, caught, pump-faked her defender and drove to the hoop for a hard finish.
The return of the veteran forward also seemed to slot other players into more suitable roles, as Conde played more like a wing than ever before — handling the ball and taking pull-up 3s, and Laura Juskaite slid over to the 3 at times also.
“We never expected we’d be playing all our perimeter players as post players,” Brondello said pregame. “Usually it’s the other way around. But that’s the versatility, isn’t it? It’s like just doing what we need for the team to happen — like Maria Conde has never played that position (forward) at all in her pro life, but it’s just embracing every challenge because in the end it is basketball.”
Brondello also turned to a favourite turn of phrase of hers: “Post players give screens, but they also get screens.”
Sabally has been ever-versatile, mostly functioning as a screener, but also effectively setting up actions in five-out sets — after coming off a screen in twirl action, for example.
The Tempo’s next game is on Wednesday, when they’ll host the Connecticut Sun. While they’ve gained balance with Harrison back, Kiki Rice is still going to need significant time to recover from the medial ankle sprain she sustained at the end of last Wednesday’s game against New York.
“It’s not day to day and she’ll need a little bit of time off here,” Brondello said. “But she’s young and she’ll quickly heal. Hopefully we can get her back, I don’t know, in a few weeks.
“I’m not sure of the actual timeline.”
Grades coming soon.