Satou Sabally has a new career-high, and the Dallas Wings are officially going to the 2023 WNBA playoffs. The former No. 2 overall pick delivered the best performance of her career on Friday night to help the Wings secure a 110-100 win over the Indiana Fever, which clinched their third consecutive postseason appearance.
Sabally had actually not played since Aug. 22 against the Minnesota Lynx, when she suffered a sprained ankle in controversial circumstances that included multiple Lynx fans being ejected and Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve issuing an apology. You would have had no idea from Sabally's performance against the Fever.
She showed no signs of rust and was uninterested in easing her way back into action. In 28 minutes and 32 seconds of playing time, Sabally poured in 40 points on 13-of-17 from the field, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds and four assists.
The Wings ended up needing all of them to hold off a feisty Fever team that was fighting to keep its season alive and would not go away until the final few minutes. It was fitting that Sabally finally closed the door with three consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 14. With the defeat, the Fever were eliminated from playoff contention.
Sabally is the fifth player in Wings franchise history to score 40 points in a game, and the second this season, joining teammate Arike Ogunbowale. No other franchise has more than three (Los Angeles Sparks) different 40-point scorers and two (Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics) still have zero. Sabally is also the ninth different 40-point scorer this season, which smashes the previous record of three, set in 2006, 2008 and 2015.
Including Friday's contest, Sabally is averaging 18.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, while shooting 37.6% from 3-point land. All of those are career-highs, and Candace Parker is the only other player in league history to average at least 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists for a season. Add in the 3-point shooting and Sabally is on her own. Whoever makes the trophies for the league's awards can go ahead and start engraving Most Improved Player with Sabally's name.
Whlie Sabally's big night and the Wings clinching a playoff spot for the third consecutive season were the headline items from this game, it's worth noting as well that this was their 20th win of the season. They had already clinched their first winning season since 2015, when they still played in Tulsa, but now they've got their first 20-win season since 2008, when they still played in Detroit, as well. Quite an achievement for Sabally, Ogunbowale and first-year head coach Latricia Trammell.
