Following the Chicago Sky‘s win over the Los Angeles Sparks, Natasha Cloud credited DiJonai Carrington with helping reshape the team’s defense since Carrington returned to the lineup.
The Sky defeated the Sparks 95-88 on Aug. 5 at home, which improves the team’s record to 12-19 on the season. Cloud has been the emotional support and energy that the team needed.
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Cloud, who was seen emphatically cheering for Sydney Taylor after Taylor hit a game-winning shot against the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 1, finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists against Los Angeles. Kamilla Cardoso and Jacy Sheldon also scored 15, and Chicago closed the game with a 34-point fourth quarter.
“DiJonai Carrington has changed our team, the trajectory of our defense,” Cloud said. “We got some momentum shifting right now.”
Since Carrington returned to the lineup, the team has been 3-1 in its last four games. At the beginning of the season, the team witnessed Rickea Jackson‘s season end due to an ACL tear, and Skylar Diggins has been in and out of the lineup as well.
The franchise played a majority of the season without Carrington, and Diggins has missed a few games.
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Currently, Azurá Stevens is out, and Taylor did not play against the Sparks after straining a groin in the Aug. 3 loss to Phoenix.
However, the team is still pushing toward catching the No. 8 seed as the season winds down. Carrington has provided this team with effort, hustle, and toughness. She has also allowed the team to get more defensive stops, disruptions, and fast-break points.
The Sky guard has come off the bench in all four games since her July 30 debut, averaging 10.3 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 37.5% from 3-point range. Her season high is 16 points, in the Aug. 3 loss to Phoenix. She is providing this Chicago team with defensive flexibility, physicality, and force.
Carrington signed a one-year deal with Chicago on April 12. She was named Most Improved Player and made the All-Defensive First Team in 2024 with Connecticut, where she spent the first four seasons of her career.
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Despite injuries and personnel issues, the Sky are witnessing the development of third-year player Kamilla Cardoso and the budding of Sydney Taylor. While the roster dealt with energy issues, both players took their respective games to the next level.
Now the team is closer to full health than it has been most of the season, and the team is starting to gel together.
Cardoso is averaging a career-high 14.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists (career high), while shooting 57.4% from the field. She entered August eighth in the league in rebounds with 236 and moved to fifth in franchise history with 831.
On the flip side, Taylor is having a historic rookie season. The Sky guard has the most 30-point games by a rookie in Sky history. Not to mention she hit a game-winning shot against the defending champion Aces on Aug. 1.
Chicago sits ninth in the WNBA, six games behind the Washington Mystics for the final playoff spot with 13 games remaining. The Sky host the Indiana Fever on Aug. 8.
