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The Chicago Sky and star rookie Angel Reese rolled into the Olympic/All-Star break off the momentum of a fantastic 93-85 road win over the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. But the second half of the season began with a thud as the Phoenix Mercury crushed the host Sky 85-65.
Reese scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds but shot just 4-of-14 from the field and made 3-of-8 free throws. All but one of her field goal misses were from inside the paint.
Chicago as a whole struggled, shooting 37.0 percent from the field and 4-of-19 from three-point range.
Meanwhile, Phoenix roared to a 30-12 lead after the first quarter and a 50-28 halftime edge. Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 29 points, and Brittney Griner scored 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks.
One game isn’t symbolic of a whole season, of course. The Sky are still comfortably in the playoff picture at 10-15, good enough for eighth place and two-and-a-half games ahead of the ninth-place Atlanta Dream. And Reese continues to be a double-double machine, amassing one in 18 of her last 19 games.
Thursday featured a tough loss, though, with Griner dominating the matchup down low and Reese and the Sky not having an answer for her, Copper or the rest of Phoenix.
Chicago will now go on a three-game road trip that begins Saturday at the Los Angeles Sparks.

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Angel Reese, Sky Criticized by Fans After Being Dominated by Brittney Griner, Mercury