Thanks to sensational performances from Nyara Sabally and Marina Mabrey, the Toronto Tempo snapped their two-game losing streak by winning an entertaining uptempo game against the Chicago Sky.
We break down the Good, Bad, and Outlook!
The Good
In this win, no player shone brighter than Nyara Sabally who set a new career high of 29 points. While Nyara has previously shown her prowess in the pick and roll, she showed us the entire package tonight. She went at Kamilla Cardoso with speed and intention and, on multiple occasions, made Cardoso seem slow with her blowbys to the basket for layups. Sabally also contributed three 3-pointers and she shot them with confidence.
On the defensive end, Sabally continued to showcase her role as a disruptive presence, both at and away from the rim, capping the night off with two steals and two blocks.
Her impact cannot be understated. Chicago only got on a run and closed the gap in the third quarter after Nyara sat on the bench. That was certainly no coincidence.
In the fourth quarter, this became a close and tense game. On multiple occasions, the Sky threatened to erase the Tempo’s lead. This was when Marina Mabrey turned supernova and hit every big shot down the stretch to secure the win. Regardless of what the Sky did to her defensively, she would find space and hit another stepback or pullup jumper for 11 of her 24 points. Simply put, Mabrey put the team on her back and closed the game for the Tempo.
We also have to give a shout out to the return to form for sharpshooter Maria Conde. Conde had been struggling with her 3’s in past games, but she hit three of her 3’s tonight and her shot was looking a lot better.
Another shout out goes to Lexi Held (who unfortunately got waived by the Tempo on Tuesday) who played well in limited minutes. On one fast break play, Slim held the ball for too long and passed it to Milic for a poor baseline jumper that only hit rim. Held sprinted from the corner to get the offensive rebound and quickly dished it to Sabally who laid it up for two points. We were excited to see this Lexi Held for the Tempo, but it was sadly not meant to be.
Finally, we can’t forget the impact that Kiki Rice continues to have for this Tempo team. While she is only in her rookie season, she continues to be arguably the most reliable contributor whenever she is on the floor. In addition to scoring in double digits for seven straight games, we once again saw her instinct to never give up on plays and find ways to rectify mistakes by somehow getting the ball back with hustle and anticipation.
Overall, we saw the Tempo play like the Tempo again with much better 3-point shooting, crisper passing, and playing with more energy on both sides of the floor.
The Bad
We also have to give the Sky credit. In this game, they also played very well. On multiple occasions, they got the Tempo on their heels using quick outlet passes from their veteran star backcourt, Skyler Diggins and Natasha Cloud, leading to quick transition buckets. When the Sky were at their best, Diggins and Cloud dictated the pace and this game could have been an even bigger nail biter had it not been for the heroics of Mabrey.
Furthermore, we want to give credit to Sydney Taylor. The undrafted rookie dropped 27 points on the Tempo and displayed a dizzying array of making difficult 3’s and driving the ball with athleticism and force. At certain points in the game, we thought we were watching Jackie Young out there in a Sky jersey.
Taylor and Aicha Coulibaly’s speed, quickness, and strength on drives and cuts really gave the Tempo’s defense issues.
The Outlook
It’s hard not to be on a high after watching this entertaining game where the Tempo were challenged yet persevered.
The Tempo host the Seattle Storm next. In their last matchup, the Storm bigs were able to get whatever look they wanted which led to big nights from Dom Malonga and Stef Dolson. The Tempo, however, successfully contained the offensive production of their guards and won their first matchup.
This game, the Storm will be without Dom Malonga, but will have Awa Fam available. While we anticipate Fam and Dolson will be a handful, we like the Tempo’s chances in repeating the success they had before in limiting the damage from Seattle’s guards again. Slim and Rice will be key defensively to containing the cast of Natisha Hiedeman, Jade Melbourne, Flau’Jae Johnson, and Zia Cooke – any of whom can catch fire on offense in any given game.