LOS ANGELES -- The Sparks (2-5) are back home after playing in Las Vegas on Friday. They hope to turn their fortunes around with a win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury (4-2). It is also the start of the Commissioner's Cup for both teams.
The Mercury defeated them on May 21st in Phoenix, 89-86. Kelsey Plum had a late burst and ended up with 25 points in the loss. The Sparks were down by as many as 14 points but ultimately, the rally was unsuccessful.
It had been mentioned over and over by Coach Lynne Roberts that they have to play for 40 minutes. In this instance when they lost against the Mercury, the Sparks only scored seven points in the third quarter. That won't be enough for a win in the WNBA.
"The urgency part: we've got to continue to get better at playing that way for 40 minutes," Coach Roberts said after their loss to the Aces on Friday. "We can't let mistakes affect our defense. We can't let them scoring affect our offensive execution, and as we get tougher and and work on that, that'll get better."
Plum had mentioned about getting better in this new system and trying to balance between getting hers and feeding her teammates.
“I gotta figure out when teams load up how to make them pay," Plum said after their loss in Phoenix. "It is a new system, and so, a lot of times in this league, it's a fine line between (the) most aggressive player wins, but then also like Coach said, not trying to do it yourself, so definitely a learning experience.”
While the Sparks are still learning, so are the Mercury. They seem to be ahead of the curve at 4-2 but they will be missing a key player in Alyssa Thomas, due to a calf injury. Kahleah Copper and Natasha Mack are still out. Satou Sabally will be present for the Merc, though. She scored 25 points in that May 21st match-up. Still, the Sparks have to take of every advantage they can get.
They won't do that if they keep turning the ball over. Los Angeles had 17 turnovers while Phoenix had 12 in their first match-up. Those turnovers reared their ugly head again in Las Vegas when L.A. had 18 giveaways. So taking care of the ball is paramount for the Sparks.
Dearica Hamby has been a stat sheet stuffer; she had 14-10-6 against the Aces on Friday. Azurá Stevens did have a double-double against the Aces but she notably had 23 points and 17 boards against the Mercury.
They're gonna need more. The bench did score 22 points on Friday and that seemed like a good sign. With Rickea Jackson still not back (along with Rae Burrell and Cameron Brink), they're going to need everyone to contribute to get that win.
Then the Sparks would feel much better as they finally get a four-day break after this Sunday afternoon contest.