LOS ANGELES -- The kids had a great time. The Sparks, on the other hand? Not so much.
The Minnesota Lynx (18-3) piled on the Sparks (6-14) and led by as many as 27 points. The Sparks did valiantly fight back and scored 17 straight at one point to cut the deficit to 10. But the Lynx made some counter shots and the Sparks ran out of time. Minnesota took the W, 91-82.
The biggest enemy for the Sparks? To everyone's surprise, it was the turnovers. The Sparks had 22 while the Lynx only had 10. In turn, that gave the Lynx extra possessions. As in it gave the Lynx 22 more shots.
“I thought we had some good looks, the ball was moving, it had some zip on it," Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. "We shot the ball really well today. 13 threes at 48 percent… (Julie Vanloo) really helps with that. (We've been) missing that kind of shooter on the kick out and off the dribble. But… (Minnesota) had 22 more shot attempts than us and it’s going to be hard to beat the best team in the league, giving them 22 more shots.”
Vanloo provided the long distance bombs by going 5 for 7 from behind the arc.
"First of all, I'm so super grateful to be here," Vanloo said. "And that this organization has given me the chance. (Kelsey Plum) told me, she was just like, 'Shoot the ball like how you kill us when we play Team USA...'"
"Easy, easy, we're undefeated but yes," Plum interrupted with a laugh.
"And she was just like, 'Just shoot when your open and play with confidence,'" Vanloo resumed. "And shoutout to her, she gave me some great passes. I'm just ready to shoot and help the team where I can and I can get hot really quick, so that's what I'm known for, and I'm happy I could do that today.”
It was also Kids' Day where summer camps get invited to attend a WNBA day game. Plum remarked on the memorable day.
"It's a great environment, the kids," Plum said. "I remember coming to these games when I was a kid and it just made a really big impact on me. So yeah, it's super important and it was fun."
The Sparks had a promising start as they scored 16 straight in the first quarter to take a double-digit lead. But then the bench came in for the Lynx and turned it around. Natisha Hiedeman put in 16 points in the first half and the finalists never looked back.
Kelsey Plum led the Sparks with 17 points and a season-best 12 assists while Julie Vanloo came off the bench to score 15. As for the Lynx, Hiedeman would end up with 18 points while Napheesa Collier overcame a slow start to score 17 points and grab eight boards.
The Sparks continue their home stand on Sunday as they take on the Connecticut Sun for the first time.