CHICAGO -- Los Angeles played well in their game against Indiana on Wednesday but the Fever were able to make just enough plays to get the win. As Sparks head coach Curt Miller said multiple times, while encouraging, there are no moral victories. And the beat goes on.
The next beat is in Chicago as the Sparks take on the Sky. The Sparks haven’t done well against the Sky as they have gone 0-2 against them this season.
The first match-up saw the Sky take control for most of the game on May 30th in Chicago. Then in Los Angeles on August 17th, the Sparks had a double-digit lead in the fourth before the Sky came back to steal the victory.
It hasn’t been great since for the Sky. They’ve lost seven in a row since then. And Chennedy Carter did not play in the last four games due to health and safety protocols.
Well, Carter is available against the Sparks and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Sky. Chicago is fighting for a postseason spot; they have the same record as the Dream at 11-22 and are a half-game ahead of the 11-23 Mystics.
The Sky are four games ahead of the 7-26 Sparks but they also own the tiebreaker so it’s a very long shot for the Sparks to make the postseason with seven games left in the schedule. In fact, Los Angeles can be officially eliminated from the playoff race with a loss on Friday.
But the Sparks are, of course, never going to quit. They can definitely play spoiler in Chicago and muddy up the playoff waters with a win.
The Sparks go from going against Caitlin Clark on Wednesday to facing Angel Reese on Friday. Reese leads the league in rebounding at 13.2 per game and is averaging a staggering 16.4 rebounds since the Olympic break.
Los Angeles will also have to be mindful of Reese’s fellow rookie teammate, Kamilla Cardoso, whose size poses a problem to any team. Reese and Cardoso combined for 25 rebounds in their win against the Sparks nearly three weeks ago. They will be a handful against the Sparks frontcourt players like Dearica Hamby and Azurá Stevens.
As for the Sparks, Odyssey Sims played well against Indiana on Wednesday with 20 points. Friday will be her last game on a third 7-day contract so the situation after will be interesting. Rickea Jackson had her double-digit scoring streak stopped at 10 games after struggling against the Fever (2/11, 5 points). She’ll look to bounce back on Friday night.
And the Sparks themselves are looking to recover from Wednesday’s loss against the Fever. As Coach Miller also said, execute for four quarters and the wins will take care of themselves.