Chicago Sky star Angel Reese missed her first game of the season Wednesday, sitting out an 86-49 loss to the Atlanta Dream at Wintrust Arena with a leg injury.
Coach Tyler Marsh described Reese’s absence as “precautionary,” but the injury throws some uncertainty into Reese’s availability for the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday in Indianapolis.
“I think she should be OK, but I’m not sure,” Marsh said. “She’s taking it day by day. She’s feeling better today.”
Reese was selected as an All-Star reserve for the second consecutive season. The 6-foot-3 forward is averaging 14 points and a league-high 12.6 rebounds and leads the Sky with 31.7 minutes per game, which ranks 13th in the league.
Reese is the latest All-Star to suffer a midseason injury leading up to the league’s showcase weekend.
Dream forward Rhyne Howard will be out for the rest of July with a knee injury. And Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark — an All-Star captain who received the most fan votes — aggravated a groin injury at the end of Tuesday’s game against the Connecticut Sun, which could threaten her availability for both the All-Star Game and 3-point contest.
The Sky were doubly short-handed for Wednesday’s day game due to the absence of Ariel Atkins, who suffered a calf injury in the first half of Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Lynx. It was described as a noncontact injury, and Marsh said he wasn’t certain when it occurred. Atkins underwent evaluation in the locker room during halftime Monday and didn’t return.
Marsh said the Sky will reevaluate Atkins after the All-Star break. The team considers her availability “day to day.”
Without their top two scorers, the Sky (7-15) narrowly avoided the lowest point total in franchise history when Moriah Jefferson made a jumper in the lane with 30.3 seconds left. Rebecca Allen led the Sky with nine points — all on 3-pointers in the third quarter — and Kamilla Cardoso added eight points and 11 rebounds.
Brittney Griner scored 15 points and Brionna Jones and Allisha Gray added 14 apiece for the Dream (13-9), who opened the third quarter on a 14-0 run and led by as many as 43 in the fourth.
Associated Press contributed.