LOS ANGELES — Even if it looked bad for the Sparks for most of the game, they still had a chance.
Unfortunately, the Sparks ran out of time and their spirited comeback fell short as the Fever did enough to win on the road, 87-78.
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The Sparks shot a putrid 2 for 15 (.133) from behind the arc. That was part of the downfall by the team.
“The concerning thing is we only took 15,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “That means we’re not… I need to watch the film to see why so I don’t know. But we need to be shooting more than that.
“In a spaced-out offense, we’ve got to be able to knock down more threes than that. And maybe we’re a little rushed or they’re not getting them in the spots they’re used to. It’s a work in progress.”
Cameron Brink bounced back to have a good game and there was a lot of talk about her confidence.
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“I’m a defensive-minded player so I feel like that’s what gets me going,” Brink said. “If I’m super locked in and just loud and talking on defense, I feel like that can fuel the team. I’m really proud of the way we fought back today. We’re getting better.”
The Fever led, 60-39, halfway through the third but the Sparks were able to slice the deficit down to seven with a minute and change left. Los Angeles had a chance to cut it down to four but Kelsey Plum misfired on a three. Kelsey Mitchell was able to capitalize on a lay-up to put away the Sparks.
“I was more frustrated with myself in the turnovers and trying to figure out the spacing and the timing,” Plum said after she was asked about her scoring. I think there was a lot of possessions that someone thinks they’re going here, you go here. Or like something gets tipped or just the rhythm is off. We’ve been really good at cutting in the past, and I think we haven’t really done that. And that leads to a lot of catch-and-shoot threes, which is really high percentage. We are not getting those. So I feel like for me, it’s just going back and watch the tape, figure out windows that are missed or what to do differently and go from there.”
What is there to take away from this game?
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“We got to show up to play when it’s the first quarter,” Plum said. “If you haven’t noticed the pattern, the W talent is pretty straight out across the board. Hardest team playing wins a lot of the time. Yeah, you’ve got to make shots and stuff but it’s kind of magical when you play hard and you kind of end up making shots. So I think that we have to have the intensity that we had in that run for a sustained game.”
They did get some good contributions from rookie Chance Gray, who got extended minutes (16) for the first time in her WNBA career.
“I was just defending because our vets are going to get tired, sometimes,” Gray said. “I was just there to defend and the offense will come; I’m not worried about that. It’s a brand new team so we’ll get more comfortable. I’m going to find my way on my floor playing defense. That’s what we did at Ohio State. I know it’s going to translate over to the W. That’s what I want to keep a focus on and that’ll give me more minutes.”
Gray did get her “Welcome to the WNBA” moment when she got her lay-up blocked by Aliyah Boston.
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“I hesitated and I shouldn’t have. It was Aliyah Boston,” Gray admitted. “I was already like, I see her coming. She was kind of there so I tried to quick shoot it. But she’s long. I’ve got to work on counters and I’ll get better as I grow in the league.”
The Sparks had trouble making shots until late in the game; they were mostly below 40 percent shooting before making an astounding 11 for 13 shots in the fourth quarter. But the damage was done by the Fever as their backcourt fired from all cylinders. Sparks had trouble holding on to the ball as they mistimed passes and dropped catches. They ended with 19 turnovers.
The Fever were led by Caitlin Clark, who had a 24-5-9 line. Kelsey Mitchell was throwing fireballs and straight darts with 23 points. As for the Sparks, Plum led all scorers with 25 points. Dearica Hamby had 16 points and eight rebounds while Brink came off the bench with 11 points, five boards, and three blocks.
The Sparks are now 0-2 but they have a chance to make that up with two games against the Toronto Tempo at home on Friday and Sunday. But as Coach Roberts is apt to say, it’s always one game at a time.
