Chicago Sky star Angel Reese will miss her fourth consecutive game Thursday when her team hosts the third-place Atlanta Dream. Reese has been dealing with a back injury since the All-Star break and has only appeared in two of the Sky’s games since the season resumed.
“There isn’t a concrete timetable as to the extent that I know,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said prior to Tuesday’s game. “It’s the back injury and she continues to be day-to-day… I think she’s progressing but still kind of wait and see.”
Reese last played on July 29 during the Sky’s 103-86 loss to the Mystics, and she endured a frustrating night. While she put up 22 points and 13 rebounds, she shot 6 of 16 from the field and was hampered by both foul trouble and back pain.
“It was ugly, ugly for me, but I tried to push through as much as I could for my teammates because I know they need me out there,” Reese said. “When I am out there, I don’t think about an injury. It can happen anyway, anytime. If I’m thinking about it too much, it’s gonna happen again. So, just trying to fight through contact as much as I can and do whatever I can for the team.”
Marsh said earlier this month that Reese’s back tightened up after the loss to the Mystics and that the team is holding her out as a precautionary measure. There’s no reason for the Sky to rush Reese back when they’re 8-21 and six games out of the final playoff spot with 15 games remaining in the regular season. That would be true with any injury, but especially a back issue.
Reese’s sophomore season has been a roller coaster.
She got off to a historically bad start, and through her first seven games was shooting a dismal 30.9% from the field, including 16 of 50 (32%) in the restricted area. She gradually improved, though and on June 15, she recorded her first career triple-double in a win over the Connecticut Sun.
A week later, on June 22, she recorded the first of 11 consecutive double-doubles. That streak, which made her the first player in league history to have multiple double-double streaks of at least 10 games, is still active. Over her last 11 games, Reese is averaging 16.9 points and 13.1 rebounds on 50.9% shooting.
Reese was named an All-Star for the second time in two seasons on July 6, but has only appeared in two of the Sky’s last eight games on either side of the All-Star break, most recently due to her back injury, and it’s unclear when she may return to the court. Whenever she does play again, she’ll have to be careful around the officials. Reese has eight technical fouls, which is the regular season limit, and one more will earn her an automatic one-game suspension.
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