Candace Parker made one thing abundantly clear after her final playoff exit with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2020.
“We gotta get better. Can’t keep saying ‘next year.’”
In 2021, her move was to return to her hometown of Chicago to play for a new team in the Sky and hope that maybe things would be different.
As things turned out, they are.
Chicago topped the No. 1 seeded Connecticut Sun in the semifinals of the 2021 WNBA Playoffs to secure a Finals spot against the winner of the Las Vegas Aces-Phoenix Mercury series, which is headed to a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday.
Taking the series in just four games, the Sky are now back in the Finals for the first time since 2014. Here are some takeaways from their series as the Sky are in pursuit of their first franchise championship.
Parker plays hometown hero
Parker’s first season in Chicago wasn’t the fairy-tale homecoming she hoped it would be. She missed eight games after an ankle injury to start the season as the Sky went 1-7 in her absence and then had to scratch and claw their way back into playoff contention.
All that struggle proved worth it, however, as during Game 4 against the Sun, Parker came up big, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, helping her team punch their ticket to the Finals.
Parker is known to have changed the way forwards play the game forever as she’s not only a scoring machine but a key defender, winning defensive player of the year in 2020.
She was strong all through the semifinal series, starting Game 1 with a 22-point, five-rebound, six-assist performance, then adding a double-double in the Sky’s Game 3 win with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Chicago is an extremely well-rounded ream with the court vision and dime-dishing excellence of Courtney Vandersloot, sharp-shooting of Allie Quigley and versatility from every player on the bench, but the addition of Parker in the off-season helped the Sky get the edge they needed to push into the championship round.
Copper’s leadership is invaluable
If anyone turned heads during these finals, it was Kahleah Copper and her breakout performances each and every night. Scoring in double-digits in each of the Sky’s playoff games this post-season, Copper poured in 26 points in Game 3 to help Chicago get the second win it needed before heading into Game 4, where she then delivered again dropping 18 point on 7-of-15 shooting.
More important than what she can do for the boxscore, however, Cooper’s played a crucial role as Chicago’s “emotional leader,” according Chicago head coach James Wade, keeping her cool and bringing energy to the team when they need it most.
Her energy has an infectious impact on her teammates, and as the Sky’s leading scorer in the regular season, the combination of on-court ability and leadership skills allowed her to produce for the Sky and help them reach the Finals with ease.
The Sky are a team that are constantly shining lights on each other, celebrating each other’s plays more than their own and showing off a selfless nature that will be persistent in the finals.
MVP still does MVP things
After ending the regular season on a 14-game winning streak, the Sun’s playoff dreams came to a halt after Chicago took Game 4 in a 10-point win despite a strong performance from reigning MVP Jonquel Jones.
In Game 4, Jones did exactly what she had been doing all season, pouring in 25 points and 11 rebounds. But with only two other Connecticut scorers able to produce in double-digits, the effort simply fell short.
From Game 1, when Jones started off with a 26-point, 11-rebound performance as the game went to double overtime, Chicago had its hands full with deciding whether or not putting in all efforts to shut down Jones was worth letting other Sun players shine.
Jones is a player who is almost impossible to contain – Sue Bird had said during the Commissioner’s Cup that a game plan changes with Jones in the lineup, and Chicago knew that even putting a league-best defender on her wouldn’t change her ability to find the rim or grab a board.
Even when Chicago did find a way to shut Jones down – a four-point, four-rebound performance in Game 2 where the Sun won 79-68, five other Sun players contributed 11 or more points making up for her lack of productivity.
Jones is a special talent who uses her length to get to the rim and play defence, and combines that with a deadly stroke accurate from just about anywhere on the floor.
She’s gone from 2017 Most Improved Player, to 2021 MVP and now has her sights on becoming a hopeful 2022 WNBA Champion.
Up next
Chicago will be waiting on either Las Vegas or Phoenix in the Finals, and each team brings their own set of challenges for a Sky team that has had a lot of moving parts all season.
Both teams are well rounded, with Aces boasting a deep bench including the last three seasons’ winners of Sixth Woman of the Year in Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby. Additionally, Vegas also features 2020 MVP A’ja Wilson, who was very much in the running to repeat this season, as well as players like Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Liz Cambage, who will play at a fast tempo and constantly move the ball to make Chicago work on defence.
The Mercury, on the other hand, has one of the best centres in the league in Brittney Griner, one of the most intense scorers and defenders in Skylar Diggins-Smith, have veteran experience and ability in Diana Taurasi and have weapons like Sophie Cunningham coming off the bench who can shoot a deep ball regardless of pressure.
Kia Nurse injured her knee in Game 4 of the Aces-Mercury series and may be questionable, but her presence would, of course, be an additional boon for Phoenix in the Finals should it make it past Vegas on Friday.
