Two teams looking to find the consistency needed for a playoff push collide in Chicago on Friday when the Sky play host to the Dallas Wings at Allstate Arena.
Dallas will be without star forward Glory Johnson, who is sidelined for a month with a broken toe. She is the Wings' leading rebounder and top defender and was coming off a 20-point, 20-rebound performance before suffering the injury last week in a loss at Atlanta.
Without Johnson, the Wings (9-12) have lost two straight and five of seven overall. They were blown out by the defending WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx 93-56 on Saturday. Dallas was outrebounded 43-26 and outscored 26-1 in second-chance points by Minnesota.
The Wings have struggled on both ends of the court. They are surrendering the most points per game in the WNBA (87.5) and not moving the ball effectively on offense.
Odyssey Sims leads the Wings in scoring with 14.8 points. Johnson, Karima Christmas, Skylar Diggins, Plenette Pierson and Aerial Powers also are averaging double figures.
Yet despite the balanced attack, Dallas is second-to-last in the league assists at 15.4 per game. No Dallas player scored in double figures in the loss to Minnesota and Diggins was shut out.
The Sky (8-12) have not won back-to-back games since early June. They are coming off a 77-67 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday and are ninth in the league standings. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.
Reigning league MVP Elena Delle Donne is having another big season and is second in the league in scoring, averaging 20.6 points and also shooting 42.1 percent on 3-pointers. She had 14 points, behind Cappie Pondexter's 18, in the Sky's 92-87 win over Dallas on May 29 in the teams' only previous meeting this season.
Pondexter is averaging 11.4 points and Allie Quigley is at 10.8 points per game for the Sky, who are third in the league in rebounding and should have an edge on the boards against the undermanned Wings.
This is the Wings franchise's first season in Dallas after moving to Texas from Tulsa, Okla., in the offseason.
