INDIANAPOLIS -- The Sparks are 5-13 and fading away fast from the Top 8. But the good news is that they are nearly at full strength and Thursday’s loss against the defending champion Liberty was the first time they were at 11 players all season. And it will be the same thing again as their injured list has never been thinner.
7/5/25 Sparks Game Status Report at Fever:
— LA Sparks PR (@LASparksPR) July 4, 2025
#22 – Cameron Brink – NWT – Left Knee
Julie Allemand played her first game back since returning from Eurobasket on Thursday. Rae Burrell also returned on Thursday, playing 11 minutes and scoring her first points of the season. And Julie Vanloo played a couple of minutes as a new member of the Sparks.
And the team will be finishing up their mini-road trip against the Fever in Indiana on Saturday night.
The Fever (9-8) are hot, even though Caitlin Clark hasn't played since June 24th. During that span of time, they unofficially won four of five games and also took the Commissioner's Cup against the defending Cup champions Minnesota Lynx (the Cup Final does not count in the standings).
The one in that 4-1 run? The L.A. Sparks about a week ago.
While the Sparks were actually down double digits in the fourth quarter in their game against the Fever, they dominated the fourth, scoring 35 points without a turnover. It was their best quarter of the season as the Fever couldn't stop Azurá Stevens and figure out Kelsey Plum. Indiana played small to begin the fourth and it cost them.
"I think we talked about just exploiting the mismatch," Stevens said after that game, who scored 14 points in that game-deciding fourth quarter. "They went small. I just credit the team and coach. We really made an emphasis to just pound it inside and we got great looks. So it was a great team effort and great communication just to exploit that mismatch."
And the Fever will continue to lack that size as Damiris Dantas is still out due to the AmeriCup. But they can rely on their other all-stars, Kelsey Mitchell (19.3 points per game) and Aliyah Boston (16.2 points, 8.1 boards per). Plus they still have Natasha Howard (11.2 points), Lexie Hull (.489 from three), and an old friend in Aari McDonald (11.3 points in six games).
It would be great for the Sparks if they can take care of the ball. It's a broken record at this point but the turnovers continue to plague them. They average nearly 19 a game in their last seven contests. It's like they've become Santa Claus in the last three weeks.
And it was once again the third quarter that hurt the Sparks in New York as the Liberty had a massive 27-6 run in that period. Another broken record for the Sparks is that they have to play all 40 minutes. Still, they did fight back against the defending champions in the fourth quarter and got the deficit back down to five.
“I think that just shows our growth," Stevens said of their attempted rally after Thursday's game. "When teams punch us in the past, we kind of let the game slip away, but I'm proud of the way that we fought back and we were right back in the game. We got their punch and then we punched them back."
The Sparks hope to land the first punch and give an early knockdown to the Fever. Then they hope it leads to a knockout win and a 2-0 season series lead against Indy.