The Return Everyone Was Waiting For
Brittney Sykes came back. The wins didn't.
The Syracuse alum made her long-awaited return to the Toronto Tempo lineup Tuesday, August 18, after a two-month absence stemming from a left plantar fascia injury suffered on June 16 against the Indiana Fever — the same team that would greet her on comeback night. Sykes delivered exactly the spark fans hoped for: 15 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and a block in a competitive showing against Caitlin Clark and the Fever, finishing a surprising +2 in a game Toronto ultimately lost 101-95.
The performance was a genuine bright spot for an expansion franchise that has been in freefall. The Tempo entered the Fever game having lost 10 straight, and Sykes's return was framed as a potential turning point. On the court, she looked like it. Off the scoreboard, the slide continued.
Elimination and a Rough Week's End
Any momentum Sykes generated Tuesday evaporated quickly. She sat out Wednesday's 93-82 loss to the Washington Mystics — part of a group of four starters who were unavailable — as Toronto was officially eliminated from WNBA playoff contention. The defeat pushed the losing streak to 12 games and dropped the Tempo to 10-25 on the season, one of the worst records in the league.
Sykes returned for Saturday's home game against the Chicago Sky, but the Tempo's ability to close out close games remained elusive. Toronto fell 82-79, with Sykes finishing at -4 for the night. The loss was a microcosm of the Tempo's season: competitive, but not quite enough.
The Bigger Picture for a Syracuse Alum
Sykes's week is a study in contrasts. The comeback performance against the Fever — 15 points, efficient and engaged — was a reminder of why Toronto counted on her before the injury derailed everything. She suffered the plantar fascia injury at a moment when the Tempo were still in playoff contention; the team's trajectory cratered in her absence.
Now, with the postseason mathematically out of reach, the final weeks of the regular season offer Sykes a chance to rebuild rhythm and remind the league what a healthy version of her looks like heading into the offseason. For a Syracuse program that has sent multiple players to the WNBA, she remains one of the more visible ambassadors — and Tuesday's 15-point effort was a legitimate statement, even if the standings don't reflect it.
The Tempo have three wins to show for a 12-game stretch that should have been their playoff push. Sykes's return didn't fix that. But at 15 points and a +2 in her first game back from a serious injury, the Syracuse guard gave Toronto fans — and her own résumé — something worth holding onto as a brutal season winds down.
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