LOS ANGELES -- The Sparks (12-15) are back home.
And they’d better get used to it because they are playing a lot of games on the Crypto.Com Arena floor in the month of August. Eight of them, to be exact.
Their first home game of the month will be against the Indiana Fever (17-12), winners of five straight. The Sparks have beaten the Fever twice in Indianapolis.
Funny enough, playing at home hasn’t been as beneficial as it normally would. While the Sparks have been on a hot streak as of late, winning six of their last seven games, they also have the least wins at home. They are an atrocious 3-9 in Los Angeles.
“We’re not going to buy into this story that we can’t win at home,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said on Monday after practice. “We’ve got to flush that excuse. Get that out of our head. There is an element to being in L.A. where there’s distractions, right? When you play home games, you’ve got family coming into town, people need tickets and they want to hang out with you and all the things. I think on the road, you’re able to have a routine and there’s just not those distractions. And those aren’t bad distractions.
“But how can we help them and how can they, as professionals, learn to kind of focus in and not be distracted, right? So we’ve talked about that but I am not giving us the excuse that we don’t play well at home. We’re going to play well tomorrow.”
The Fever will continue to have Caitlin Clark out but they’ve gained momentum without her. Indiana has thrived with their other all-stars Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston leading the way.
“Indiana is very physical,” Roberts said. “Kelsey Mitchell, her first step is the quickest in the league. She is a tough guard. I love watching her play. I don’t love coaching against her. But there’s so much respect. She just does her job. She’s a competitor. She’s athletic. She’s a tough match-up. They run really good stuff for her.
“And then Boston’s just a load. She’s so physical. She likes contact. She invites it. Our post defense needs to get a little bit better. But they’ve got to guard us, too. And whoever scores more is going to win, I think, is the rule. So that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The team signed Alissa Pili to a 7-day contract. Pili played for Roberts in Utah for two years so she’s very familiar with her system.
“We know each other very well and (Coach Roberts) knows exactly how to use me and where to best put me for the team success,” Pili said. “I think just being back in that system, it really helps both ways. I’m happy to be here.
As for going against Indiana?
“I think just being physical,” Pili said when asked what the focus was. “They like to go in the paint a lot. So just being a presence out here and not letting them get any easy buckets like they want to down there.”
The Sparks offense has carried them through their hot streak. But they know they have to hold their own on the other end, too.
“Transition defense is going to be big,” Coach Roberts said. “They really get out and run. Aari McDonald, who’s having a heck of a season; I’m just so impressed with her. She’s just done a tremendous job there. So her and Kelsey Mitchell put a lot of pressure on the defense. They got the shooters in the hole in (Sophie) Cunningham and then they got (Boston) and Natasha Howard. They’re a complete team.”
“The focus always is having a really good solid defense,” Sparks forward/center Cameron Brink said. “Moving with pace. Just being together as a team.”
Brink had a big fourth quarter against the Storm on Friday.
“It just kind of energized us,” Roberts said about Brink’s performance in Seattle. “I think she spearheaded that run but we made it a game. Then it was back and forth the whole rest of the way.
“She brings a level of confidence to the rest of our team defensively. And I think the other team knows her capabilities. Even if she doesn’t get a statistical block, she’s going to alter shots and some thinking, some decision-making to attack with her in there.”
Four Sparks players scored 21 or more in Seattle. Rickea Jackson led the way with 27 and has lately been a go-to player in the clutch.
“Over the last two-and-a-half, three months, I’ve learned better how to coach Rickea, how to use her,” Roberts admitted. “And what I love about Rickea is she’s not afraid of the moment. She wants it and that’s more than half the battle.”
It’s certainly going to be a battle when the Fever visit the Sparks. With the calendar in August now, every game is going to get bigger and bigger.
Both teams know what’s at stake as the playoffs are on the horizon.
