CHICAGO — Angel Reese was cleared to play for the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night against the Seattle Storm at Wintrust Arena after missing nine of the last 10 games with a lower back injury.

The forward logged 19 points in 26 minutes, slightly exceeding a 24- to 25-minute playing time restriction initially set before the game. Reese was the leading scorer for the Sky alongside Ariel Atkins in a 94-88 loss to the Storm while shooting 9 for 13 from the floor.

Reese sat out the final game before the All-Star break July 16 with a leg injury, then fully participated in the All-Star Game and the rest of the weekend activities and played in the Sky’s first game back July 22.

The second-year forward missed two home games after the initial back injury was reported before returning for a July 29 road loss to the Washington Mystics — her first opportunity to play a WNBA game in front of her grandmother. Reese logged 22 points and 13 rebounds in that game, but the Sky medical staff shut her down again immediately after the loss.

The Sky are 1-9 with Reese sidelined.

Reese said there wasn’t a specific moment or play that caused the injury. She declined to comment further on her recovery process, adding that she would “speak on that after the season.”

The Sky cleared Reese to return to basketball activities over the weekend after nearly three weeks without playing. She practiced Monday but remained a game-time decision up until the final hour before Tuesday’s tipoff.

After weeks on the sideline, she was eager to get back onto the court.

“I love basketball,” Reese said. “Basketball is what got me here. Put all the (BS) to the side — I want to hoop. I’ve always wanted to get back out there.”

So where do the Sky go from here?

The last 10 games painted a grim picture of the Sky’s ability to compete without Reese, who was averaging 14.2 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists and shooting 44.4% from the field before the injury. She leads the team in scoring and leads the league in rebounding.

Only 10 games remain after Tuesday’s, and the Sky (8-25 entering Tuesday) are second-to-last in the standings and eight games out of the final playoff spot. They could be eliminated from postseason contention in the next 10 days.

But even with the playoffs out of reach, the Sky don’t plan to slow down for the final stretch. Having traded their first-round pick to the Minnesota Lynx, they wouldn’t benefit in the draft from finishing lower in the standings.

The Sky might slightly shift their approach once they’re eliminated from the postseason. That would mainly translate to shorter rotations for the starters and increased minutes for players such as Maddy Westbeld whose roster spots are being assessed for future seasons. But unlike teams such as the Washington Mystics, the Sky aren’t entering a controlled tanking for the final quarter of the season.

In the short term for Reese, this outlook means getting back to what she prefers to do: hooping.

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