Chicago Sky star Angel Reese did not play for the entirety of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces — for two different reasons.
The Sky sidelined Reese for the first half of Sunday’s game to serve a brief suspension for “statements detrimental to the team” given Tuesday in an interview with the Tribune. Reese sat on the bench for the first half while serving that suspension.
Shortly before the second half was set to begin, the Sky ruled out Reese for the remainder of the game with a back injury. Reese was not listed on the injury report in the lead-up to Sunday’s game. The forward participated in shootaround and wore a compression wrap on her back during pregame warmups at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Sky lost the game 80-66 as the Aces extended the longest win streak in franchise history to 14 games. A’ja Wilson had 31 points and 11 rebounds for the Aces (28-14). Rachel Banham and Michaela Onyenwere scored 12 points apiece to lead the Sky (10-32). Kamilla Cardoso had 10 points and 15 rebounds, while the team was also missing Ariel Atkins (back).
Sky coach Tyler Marsh said after the game that Reese informed the coaching staff that she was experiencing back discomfort during pregame. After consulting with the medical staff, the Sky opted to hold Reese out “to be as cautious as possible.” Marsh said the team is uncertain whether Reese will be available for the team’s upcoming games this week.
“We’ve got to gauge it day by day,” Marsh said. “I know Angel wants to be out there, so we’ll continue working with her and our medical team to see what the best method of approach is moving forward.”
This is the 11th game that Reese has missed due to this back injury, which initially surfaced after the All-Star break in July. The Sky went 1-9 during Reese’s initial streak of injury absences, which kept her off the court for nearly three weeks.
Reese was sidelined for an additional game Friday after accumulating an eighth technical foul for the season in Wednesday’s win over the Connecticut Sun, which resulted in an automatic one-game suspension by the league.
The Sky are eliminated from the playoffs and will cap off the season with two games — a road rematch against the Aces on Tuesday and a home finale against the New York Liberty on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.