Angel Reese missed a third consecutive game for the Chicago Sky, sitting out Tuesday’s game in Las Vegas with a back injury that has sidelined her for nearly a quarter of the season.
The forward was listed as questionable by the Sky, and did warm up, but was then ruled out by coach Tyler Marsh shortly before tipoff.
Reese missed each of the last three games for a different reason. The forward was suspended by the league for Friday’s road game against the Indiana Fever after accumulating her eighth technical foul last Wednesday against the Connecticut Sun. She was additionally suspended for the first half of Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces for “statements detrimental to the team,” which were made Tuesday in an interview with the Tribune.
Reese sat on the bench while fulfilling her suspension on Sunday and was expected to play in the second half of the game. However, the team announced at halftime that the forward was ruled out for the rest of the game due to the back injury. Although Reese was not listed on the injury report prior to Sunday’s game, she did wear a back compression wrap during warmups in Las Vegas.
This is the 12th game that Reese has missed due to this back injury, which initially emerged as an issue following the All-Star break in July. The Sky won only one game without Reese in the lineup.
With one game left in the season, the Sky are already eliminated from the playoffs. But there’s one major stake left for Reese — defending the league rebounding title.
Reese won the rebounding title in her rookie season with a total tally of 446. The forward handily leads the league in rebounds per game (12.6), but trails behind Aces center A’ja Wilson in total rebounds tallied on the season. Wilson (383) led Reese (377) by six rebounds heading into Tuesday’s game — a sizable gap for Reese to close even if she plays in Thursday’s game.