Jordin Canada’s layup as time expired delivered a gut-punch 93-91 win for the Atlanta Dream over the Chicago Sky on Sunday at Gateway Center Arena, a finish that neatly spotlighted the season-long fallout from the Angel Reese trade. Chicago clawed back from a double-digit second-half deficit, only to watch the game slip away on the final possession. Layered on top of the sting of the loss was a fresh concern: Reese left late with a knee issue and never returned.
Buzzer-Beater, Injury And The Final
Canada’s fearless drive to the rim produced the deciding bucket in a chaotic closing stretch, while Allisha Gray carried Atlanta with 29 points and Brionna Jones controlled the glass off the bench with 10 rebounds. Late in the game, Angel Reese went down under the basket when her knee buckled and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the night. The result pushed the Dream to 16-10 and dropped the Sky to 9-17, according to AP via CBS Sports.
How A Slump Briefly Helped Chicago
For a stretch in June, the Dream’s uneven form turned into quiet good news for Chicago. A five-game skid sent Atlanta tumbling down the standings and, for a moment, made the first-round picks the Sky picked up in the Reese deal look like they might become premium chips. Reese has said she has “found exactly the home she was looking for,” a comment that only sharpens the contrast between Atlanta’s current momentum and Chicago’s longer-term rebuild. As the Chicago Sun-Times notes, the Sky’s cleanest path to winning that trade was a prolonged Dream slide, and that window is closing fast.
Sky Rally Shows Fight, But Not Enough
The Sky mounted a gritty second-half surge, spreading the scoring load across the roster and turning what looked like a runaway into a coin flip. Veteran point guard Courtney Vandersloot steered the comeback with steady playmaking and timely finishes, ending with 11 points and six assists, according to the game’s box score. Still, Chicago could not execute on the final defensive stand and paid for it at the horn. CBS Sports shows five Sky players reached double figures in the loss.
What The Trade Actually Returned And What It Is Worth Now
In April, the Sky sent Reese to Atlanta in a deal built almost entirely on future draft capital. Chicago acquired the Dream’s 2027 and 2028 first-round picks plus a 2028 second-round pick swap, per the team and league announcement. Those exact pieces are spelled out in the official transaction record, which means the true payoff hinges on where Atlanta lands in the standings over the next few years. A top-four finish would push those first-rounders toward the back of the round. Another slump would nudge them up the board, as outlined in the WNBA’s transaction release. WNBA documentation details the pick years and the swap terms.
Bottom Line
Sunday’s buzzer-beater felt like a tidy summary of the season’s central storyline. With Reese in the mix, Atlanta looks like a team built to win now. Chicago, meanwhile, is betting hard that those future picks can be flipped into its next cornerstone. For more on how the deal came together and why it reshaped the Sky’s offseason, revisit our earlier coverage Sky Ship Angel Reese.
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