UNCASVILLE, CONN. -- The Sparks are on fire.
The team has won their last three games. They already exceeded their win total (9) from last year (8). And the second half of the season has just begun.
And the Sparks (9-14) have a golden opportunity to keep it going as they visit the Connecticut Sun (3-19), who possess the worst record in the league.
The Sparks were down 16 early in their last game in Washington. But they came roaring back in the second quarter and took a double-digit lead late before dispatching the Mystics. That was a game they probably would've laid down a month ago. Things seem to look a little different now with the Sparkles.
"I'm just proud of how we let our frustration fuel us to want to do better and not get in our feelings rolled over," forward Rickea Jackson said after the game. "We could've easily rolled over against this team but we continued to punch. We continued to work it out. So I'm just proud of the mentality that we had. It just goes to show our mentality is getting stronger and stronger as a team and we're truly just trusting each other. And we can beat anybody moving or playing how we played in the second half."
The Sun are definitely not a team they can roll over. They were at Los Angeles almost two weeks ago and showed the Sparks that they weren’t going to be a walk on the beach. L.A. escaped with the victory.
And this could be the worst of trap games. On paper, a team with three wins would pose no challenge to another that is pretty hot at the moment. But games aren’t won on newspapers, spreadsheets, or the internet, contrary to stupid beliefs.
The Sun have talent. They have an all-timer in Tina Charles. They have promising rookies in Saniya Rivers and Aneesah Morrow. They have a scrappy player in Jacy Sheldon. And Marina Mabrey, who might currently be their best player, may be coming back to play on Thursday.
Connecticut is last in a lot of major categories, including offensive rating, defensive rating, rebound percentage, true shooting percentage, points per game, rebounds per game, assists per game, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. Look, this is all basically saying that it would be a pretty big upset if the Sun win but also, all of these statistical categories won't matter once the game starts. However, these are pretty big indicators on what the Sun can (or rather, cannot) do.
Meanwhile, Dearica Hamby has been fantastic the last seven games, averaging 20.3 points, 8.0 boards, 3.4 assists, and 1.9 steals while shooting .602. Jackson has been great, too, as she has averaged 21.0 points in her last three. The Core Four of the Sparks (which also includes Azurá Stevens and Kelsey Plum) have been great overall and they hope to keep that going. The bench, especially Rae Burrell, has been disruptive against their opponents as well.
The Sparks can also disrupt the playoff picture with their fourth straight win and fifth win in their last six games. Still, while the Sun look like easy pickings, they should focus on the task at hand and not overlook this team.
Or else the same frustrations that they had earlier in the season will return just like that.