LOS ANGELES — She was making her way downtown, walking fast, faces passed, and she’s homebound.
Olivia Miles was twisting and turning, wheeling and dealing, and getting everyone lost. She scored 24 of her 31 points in the first half and helped the Lynx keep the Sparks at bay for most of the game. The Lynx took the W, 99-83.
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The Sparks were already down Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink. And it made things a lot harder in terms of containing the favorite for Rookie of the Year.
“She’s good,” Sparks coach Lynne Robert said matter-of-factly. “She’s talented and, what I said pregame, she’s super skilled. So we were trying to mix things up. We didn’t execute it exactly how we’d hoped to all the time. But you have to just tip your hat to her. She’s a great player with a lot of skill. Her ballhandling and vision is what separates her.”
It was a 23-19 advantage for the Lynx before Miles went to work. She scored 17 points in the second period as the Lynx ran away from the Sparks. The Sparks were never able to get close after that.
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The team really missed Plum and Brink and it showed.
“I mean, it’s tough,” Coach Roberts said about their missing players. “Those are two of our most impactful players, right? Cam, obviously, offensively but defensively very impactful. That probably would have made a difference with Miles in there, right?Those are things that are part of, you know, we’ve got to get healthy. And obviously, we know KP’s ability to not just score but create, and we miss those guys, right? And that’s just the reality.
“That’s part of the season. We’re going through the adversity part right now with that and we’ve just got to get healthy. But to answer your question, I thought, you know, there were some good things and some things that weren’t so good. A lot of kind of unforced turnovers that kind of hurt us at some key moments, especially in that second quarter. But we’ve just got to keep grinding and getting better.”
Rae Burrell had a team-high 19 points and scored 10 in the first.
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“Yeah, just trying to be aggressive,” Burrell said about her play offensively. “I feel like just getting in the paint and my teammates setting good screens, talking to me. I think me and (Dearica Hamby) had really good chemistry there in the beginning. They just put me in good positions and then trying to get to the free throw line as well. Yeah, just doing whatever we needed. We knew we was down KP so we needed to be more aggressive on offense. So I just was trying to bring that.”
When asked about shot selection, Roberts thought it was better than previous games.
“Yeah, I think our shot selection was better,” Roberts said. “We’re still not always in the right spots and that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of explaining it, teaching it, working on it. I don’t know when the last time we practiced. It feels like probably May. We have not practiced and I think you’re seeing some of that slippage tonight against these really good teams that are known for just being really good defensive teams with Golden State and then Minnesota. The two of the best defensive team and it shows in our numbers. I always say the field goal percentage is directly correlated to quality of shots. I thought we did get some good ones that didn’t fall and we took maybe some rushed ones or whatever but we’ve got to continue to get better, give ourselves a chance to make those shots.”
It all seemed to come easy for Miles. She broke the game open in the second quarter with her wizardry in the paint.
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“I think I’m more so surprised with just the ability to be me so early on, which is a credit to my environment,” Miles said before the game. “Coach (Cheryl) Reeve has been amazing. My teammates have been amazing. It’s allowed me to be really comfortable. And then I always knew what I could do as a player, just having that confidence. So I knew I’d make an impact, just not this quickly, for sure.”
Other players that made an impact for the Lynx were Natasha Howard (15 points, nine rebounds), Kayla McBride (14 points), and Courtney Williams (13 points). On L.A.’s side, Burrell led the team with 19 point while Jihyun Park (13 points), Dearica Hamby (12 points, nine rebounds, three steals) and Nneka Ogwumike (12 points, eight boards) all scored in double figures.
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The Sparks end the Commissioner’s Cup with a 3-3 record and have a 7-8 record overall.
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