Toronto Tempo’s star veteran Brittney Sykes once again proved why she is an elite two-way player. Her experience is proving invaluable to this inexperienced Toronto team. Few people expected the Toronto Tempo to raise any heads during their first year. But they did make some smart moves in the free agency market, one of which was surely acquiring Brittney Sykes.

With a signature performance against the Chicago Sky, Sykes dropped 25 PTS and 7 REB, Sykes notched up a staggering 221 points this season. This means she has now scored the most points by any expansion team player through the first 11 games of the season. Her fade-away jump shot around the middle of the 2nd quarter against the Sky looked so effortless. She certainly seems to be enjoying this outing with the Tempo.

The Toronto Tempo certainly raised some eyebrows when they signed Britney Sykes and Marina Mabrey as free agents before the start of the season. This made them the WNBA’s first million-dollar backcourt pairing. And their choices are certainly paying off, as the Tempo are now 6-5 for the season.

When she is not scoring, she is creating space for others. Sykes is now putting up 3.8 assists per game, very well flaunting her playmaking abilities. Toronto has used the pairing of Sykes and Mabrey to the fullest this season. And from the early looks of it in the season, they will surely do well to keep this pairing fit and firing for the rest of the season as well.

“Brittney is an elite competitor who impacts winning on both ends of the floor,” “Her defensive versatility, toughness, and leadership set a standard, and adding a player of her caliber and all-star experience is a significant step as we continue to build our roster,” said Tempo’s GM Monica Wright  in a press release, back in April.

Brittney Sykes‘ production has been phenomenal this season. She is averaging over 19.6 points per game, which is a career high. Meanwhile, she’s also putting up 4 rebounds per game, and averaging almost 4 assists this season. The Tempo will be relying on her two-way playmaking ability to create space and stretch the defenses while going forward. She is also shooting over 91% from the free throw line, which means that she is capitalizing fully on the opposite team’s errors.

Sykes has been hitting the rim this season

Sykes is punching above her weight this season. Earlier in the month, Sykes led the Tempo to their first ever win as a franchise against the Seattle Storm. And Sykes and Co. are operating without a proper frontcourt presence as well, as Nyara Sabally has been in and out of the lineup. And let’s not forget that both Sykes and Mabrey are not ‘true’ point guards, at least in the traditional sense.

And Toronto is all too happy to ride on their shoulders. Tempo now have the 4th best offensive rating in the league and are scoring an impressive 110.2 points for every 100 possessions. To add icing to the cake, Sykes now ranks third in scoring 25+ points games this season, only behind Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson. That’s some elite territory.

Can Toronto keep this up as the season progresses and maybe make a deep run into the playoffs? Only time will tell. So far, Sykes is proving that she has been worth every cent that the Tempo are paying her. Also, with a more balanced offense, Toronto perhaps will not need to depend on Sykes this heavily, but for now, she seems to be enjoying this pressure.

While the Tempo do enjoy a good start to the season, a lot remains to be addressed. They need to figure out their forward pairing and keep the roster healthy. The recent absence of Kiki Rice has left the team a little shorthanded. Also, they depend too much on Cardoso and Diggins. They seem to win those matches in which both of them are heavily involved in the game.

While their scoring output at the moment is being taken care of by Sykes and Mabrey, they still have a very unbalanced team. And while expectations will remain low for them for their first season, they would do well to learn and adapt quickly. Early success is surely possible in the W, as shown by the Golden State Valkyries a few years back. The Tempo can run with that template again.