Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever Preview, Prediction and Odds - 6/12/21
A pair of struggling Eastern Conference teams are on the floor in WNBA action from the Hoosier State. The Chicago Sky are on the road as they make the trip to face the Indiana Fever to close a home-and-home series Saturday afternoon. In the first game of the home-and-home series, it was the Sky getting back in the win column as they earned a 92-76 victory in the Windy City. That marked the Sky’s fourth straight win in the series and gave Chicago eight wins in the last 10 meetings between the teams. Will the Sky sweep the home-and-home set or can the Fever earn a rare victory here?
Chicago Sky Gunning for Home-and-Home Sweep
Chicago had dropped seven in a row but took care of business against the league’s worst team as they welcomed Candace Parker back from an eight-game absence due to an ankle injury. The Sky improved to 3-7 on the year and entered Friday 1.5 games behind the Wings for the final playoff spot in the WNBA. Chicago never trailed in the contest, scoring the first five points and keeping Indiana behind on the scoreboard the rest of the way. The Sky were up 13 after the opening quarter only to see the Fever cut the deficit to four in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter. Chicago closed the stanza on a 7-0 run to lead 69-58 and didn’t look back from there. The Sky shot 45.1% from the field, including nine of 23 from three-point range, and held a 40-37 edge on the glass in the contest. Courtney Vandersloot paced the Sky with 17 points and nine assists in the victory.
The Sky is 10th in the league in scoring offense as they muster 77.5 points per contest this season. Chicago is second in rebounding (38.7 boards a night) and sixth in assists by dishing out 18.8 dimes a game. The Sky is good on defense as they are second in the league by allowing an average of 77.9 points a contest. Kahleah Copper is one of five players averaging in double figures for the team with 14.2 points plus 4.7 rebounds a night this season. Candace Parker (9.5 points, 6.5 boards), Astou Ndour-Fall (10.1 points, 7.6 rebounds) and Ruthy Hebard (10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds) are solid secondary options. The Sky can also look to Diamond DeShields (12.8 points), Courtney Vandersloot (12.2 points, eight assists), Allie Quigley, Stefanie Dolson, Brittany Boyd-Jones, Azura Stevens, Natasha Mack and Stephanie Watts to contribute for coach James Wade. Chicago is 12th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 39% as a team. The Sky are near the bottom of the pack in threes per game as they are 10th with six per contest: they are 9th in three-point shooting at 32.4%. Chicago comes in first at the free throw line this season as they are shooting 86.8% at the stripe. Ndour-Fall is out currently as she is playing for Spain in EuroBasket and likely won’t be back until late June.
Indiana Fever Try Again to Snap Slide
Indiana dropped their sixth straight game as they were handled by the Sky on the road in the front game of this home-and-home set. The Fever fell to 1-10 on the year and are last in the WNBA, four games behind the Wings for the final playoff spot entering Friday. Indiana never held the lead in Wednesday’s game and didn’t get even after the opening bucket as they trailed 5-0 and failed to get closer than two after that. The Fever trailed by 13 after the opening quarter, cut the deficit to 12 at the half and were within four with 1:18 to play in the third quarter before giving up a 7-0 run to end the stanza. That put them down 11 and they couldn’t make a sustained push the rest of the way. Indiana shot 41.7% from the field, including six of 17 from three-point range, but turned the ball over 16 times. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 24 points in the loss.
The Fever comes into this game 12th in the league in scoring offense with 74.8 points per game. Indiana is seventh in the league in rebounding (35.6 boards per contest) and is 10th in the league in assists with an average of 18.1 dimes per game. The Fever are 12th in the league in scoring defense by allowing 89.8 points a night. Kelsey Mitchell is one of three players for the Fever averaging in double figures with 15 points a night. Teaira McCowan (10.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocks) and Danielle Robinson (8.8 points, 3.5 assists) are good secondary options. Tiffany Mitchell (10.8 points), Jantel Lavender, Bernadett Hatar, Victoria Vivians, Jessica Breland, Lindsey Allen, Kysre Gondrezick and Chelsey Perry are looked at to contribute for coach Pokey Chatman. Indiana is 9th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 40.4% as a team on the year. The Fever are 11th in threes per game (4.8) while standing 12th by hitting 27.3% of their long-range attempts. Indiana is seventh in free throw shooting as they sink 80.5% of their chances at the stripe this season. Hatar missed the last eight games with an ankle injury and is questionable here.
Pick: Chicago Sky -11
Getting Parker back was a boost for the Sky, though she had a rough night in her return. She shot one for nine from the floor, finishing with three points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block and four turnovers in 18 minutes. It was more an emotional lift as the veteran got back on the floor for the first time since the opener. Chicago dug themselves a hole with a seven-game slide but facing an Indiana team that has really struggled works in their favor. The Fever are last in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense (47.8%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (44.6%) this season. That helped Chicago pile up their highest point total of the season Wednesday night. It’s also compelling enough to think that the Sky takes care of business here to sweep the home-and-home set.
Total: Over 160.5
One thing we’ve seen is that Indiana gives up a truckload of points on the defensive end of the floor. After all, they just allowed the Sky to put up 92 points Wednesday night and that was with Parker struggling mightily. The Fever have had issues offensively as well but they managed to push the game Wednesday over the total. Chicago is good defensively but they are capable of generating some offense, especially now that they are healthy. The Sky have seen the over hit in just four of their 10 games this season while the Fever has seen the total come in over the number in six of their 11 games. We’ve seen the last two meetings go over the total and the Sky take advantage of Indiana’s lackluster defense to push this one past the mark.
