LOS ANGELES — The Sparks (12-23) will be home for a while.
A four-game home stand begins on Thursday for this team. The visitors will be the Atlanta Dream (22-13) as the Sparks will try to snap a five-game losing skid. Overall, the Sparks have lost 12 of their last 14 games.
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These last nine games will also now double as a farewell tour for the great Nneka Ogwumike.
Ogwumike announced her retirement on Wednesday and said this season will be her last in the WNBA. She’s done it all on and off the court with endless accolades and helping the league through two monumental Collective Bargaining Agreements. Madame President, as she is affectionately known, will end her 15-year career as a Spark.
“I’ve learned there’s power in knowing when to walk away. For so long, that strength meant finding a way to keep pushing. Now, it means recognizing when you feel complete. I find myself grateful, fulfilled, and at peace with everything this game has given me and everything I’ve poured into it,” Ogwumike said.
So the Sparks will do all they can to honor Ogwumike the rest of the season. That means trying to play spoiler against the Dream, who defeated them in mid-July in Atlanta.
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The way the Sparks lost to the Dream was a familiar scene: they fought hard for nearly the whole game before untimely turnovers did them in late. A 16-5 Dream run at the end closed the Sparks out as an Angel Reese corner three gave the lead to Atlanta for good.
So it’s the usual for the Sparks. It’s one thing to know but it’s another to execute it. And it’s hard to execute when the other team has a bunch of thieves. Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada are one and two in steals per game while Angel Reese (5th) and Allisha Gray (19th) are both near the top as well. The Dream are also in the Top 5 both offensively and defensively so the Sparks have a lot on their hands.
But for some positives, Rae Burrell continues to have a hell of a season: she’s averaged 21.5 points and 4.5 assists in her last four games. Dearica Hamby has hit double figures in scoring in her last 21 games. Ogwumike is nearly averaging 17 points and nine rebounds per game this season. And the previously injured in Monique Akoa Makani, Cameron Brink, and Erica Wheeler are all listed as probable for Thursday. Sparks coach Lynne Roberts had mentioned many times that they haven’t been healthy and they finally might get that in this home stand.
As for the Dream, Angel Reese has made such a difference for this team. She’s leading the league in rebounds (12.0) once again and has 24 double-doubles this season (the record is 28 by Alyssa Thomas). Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard can score in bunches and a former Sparks general in Jordin Canada has been feeding everybody (7.4 assists). Again, the Dream are a handful but if the Sparks can play all 40 minutes and not have those untimely turnovers (especially at the end), this should be a good contest. The Sparks, despite their record, are a capable team.
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And maybe they can show that capability in this home stand of theirs. It might be too late in terms of a playoff run but showing the fight (like they have all season) and playing to their potential are traits that fans (and Nneka) can be proud of.
