The Toronto Tempo fell 97-85 to the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night, extending their losing streak to seven games with only one game left in their inaugural season.
Toronto kept things close through the first half, heading into halftime tied 44-44, before another third-quarter meltdown completely changed the game.
Let’s break down the good, the bad, and the outlook.
The Good
Laura Juškaitė and Isabelle Harrison both stepped up offensively, scoring 20+ points each.
Harrison finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds for another double-double, with an impressive 17 of those points coming in the first half.
Laura had 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc — on her birthday no less! She also added four assists and four steals. She just looks more comfortable out there every game, and continues to be one of my favourite stories from this inaugural season.
And a quick shoutout to Julie Allemand, who quietly hit a pretty impressive milestone in this game. Her five assists against Chicago brought her to 171 on the season, setting a new single-season career high. Her previous best was 170 with the Sparks last year. Julie doesn’t always put up the flashiest numbers, but her ability to run the offence and get everyone involved has been huge for the Tempo all season.
The Tempo as a whole shot a pretty wild 50% from three, going 13-of-26. Everything happening closer to the basket was a different story.
Even after falling behind by as much as 22, Toronto didn’t give up. They won the fourth quarter 30-25 and closed the game on a 12-2 run.
The Bad
Ah yes, the third quarter. Our old friend.
After heading into halftime tied at 44, Toronto was outscored 28-11 in the third. Chicago went on a 16-0 run during the quarter and suddenly what had been a very competitive game was basically out of reach.
Turnovers certainly didn’t help. Toronto finished with 18, leading to 24 points for Chicago.
The Sky also absolutely dominated inside, outscoring Toronto 54-28 in the paint. Toronto actually won the rebounding battle 40-35, but Chicago shot 52% overall compared to Toronto’s 39%.
Harrison was fantastic in the first half, but after scoring 17 before halftime she managed only four points the rest of the way.
Nyara Sabally also didn’t see the floor again, which continues to be a little strange after watching her play for Germany throughout the FIBA World Cup. She had been dealing with a calf injury before the break, so my assumption is that the Tempo simply don’t see much benefit in risking another injury this late in the season. But without anything official from the team, that’s just speculation.
The Outlook
And now things get weird.
Toronto closes out its inaugural season on Thursday against the Connecticut Sun in what might be one of the strangest games of the WNBA season.
Both teams are at the bottom of the draft lottery standings, and the outcome has some pretty significant implications. If Toronto loses, both teams will finish 11-33 and are expected to have equal lottery balls for the top draft position. If Toronto wins, Connecticut stays ahead of them in the lottery order.
With JuJu Watkins widely projected as the top prospect in the 2027 WNBA Draft (assuming she enters) you can probably see where the tanking conversation comes from.
But there’s another layer.
Thursday will be the final game for the Connecticut Sun before the franchise relocates to Houston and becomes the Comets next season. It’s hard to imagine the players not wanting to send the Connecticut fans home with one final win.
And based on what we’ve watched from Toronto all season, it’s equally hard to imagine this team intentionally rolling over for better draft odds.
So… I guess we’re cheering for a competitive loss?
