WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The WNBA is back. Actually, it barely left. But it seemed like an eternity.
After all, the Sparks (8-14) last played seven days before Tuesday. Their opponents? The team that they played last week, the Washington Mystics. This time, the bout will take place on the turf of the Mystics (11-11).
It was hard to find anything wrong that the Sparks did in their first game against those Mystics. They led by as many as 27 points and it was easily their best-played game this season. The ball movement was fluid and the defense was as lockdown as it could be. The Sparks finally got some traction this season and much-needed momentum going into and out of the all-star break.
“Yeah, it’s great to start the break on a win, right?” All-Star Sparks guard Kelsey Plum said after their win against the Mystics. “I just think the schedule has been pretty crazy just for everyone in the league. So resting, get your body right. And then we play Washington in Washington to start the break. So they're going to come at us different. But in the meantime, I think it's really good to just get mentally, physically, emotionally awake, be able to reset and come back. But just remembering how these feelings feel, winning, building off of that, playing super collectively."
Three of the Mystics players were named all-stars. The fantastic rookie duo of Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen went to Indiana for the weekend as well as Brittney Sykes. But the Sparks mostly held them all in check last week in their match-up as they all scored only eight points each. Shakira Austin did lead the team in scoring with 16 points. The Sparks will be in great shape if they can repeat that performance defensively. The Mystics turned the ball over 17 times.
"We've been letting our defense dictate our offense," forward Rickea Jackson said after the game last week. "And I feel like when we're doing that, the offensive end is really fun, looked really good. (In that game), especially in the first half, we were really disrupting them, not letting them do what they want to do. And (Coach Lynne Roberts) was saying, come out and punch first. Don't wait. Don't be too comfortable."
They didn't let the Mystics get comfortable at all as the Sparks built a 25-point lead at halftime and never looked back. The "Core Four" of the Sparks scored a combined 83 points. While it's unlikely that the team repeats this performance again, they will try to execute the same way without turning the ball over much (only 10 against the Mystics). The Sparks were cutting all over the place last week, baffling the Mystics defense.
"28 assists on 38 main baskets and the shooting percentages that we've had the last couple games, that's a direct correlation of shot quality, the shots you take," Coach Roberts said. "And that's the huge emphasis of what we're trying to do. So I'm proud of us. I'm proud of these guys for sticking with the process because it's hard. Adversity is hard. It challenges you and it shows you what you're really made of. And we're not done, but I do feel like things are starting to click."
The Sparks hope to extend their winning streak to three games for the first time in nearly two years. That would be a great start to the second half of their season.
"We've just got to keep our foot on the gas as a group and, you know, continue to improve," Roberts said.