Sparks stay alive in playoff chase behind Allemand's career-high 21 points

LOS ANGELES -- The Sparks are still in the playoff race. Barely breathing, sure, but they're still in it.

After a bit of a struggle in the third, the Sparks scored 19 unanswered, beginning with Julie Allemand's three before the third period buzzer. From there, it was a breeze for Los Angeles after that as they came away with the win against Dallas, 91-77.

The Sparks are 20-22. With the Fever clinching a postseason berth after their win over the Mystics earlier in the day, the Sparks now have to depend on the Storm losing against the Valkyries on Tuesday. As for the Sparks, they still have to run the table. With their win over the Wings (9-34), they got Step 1 of 3 done on Sunday afternoon.

The entire starting line-up scored in double figures for the Sparks. A sixth player, Rae Burrell, also put in double digits. 

"Yeah, I thought tonight... that should be a confidence booster," Coach Lynne Roberts said. "Other than the start of the third quarter, I thought we did a good job. And Rae (Burrell) played some good minutes, was so active defensively. (Sarah Ashlee Barker) didn't hit shots, but she's +18, did a tremendous job defensively.

"And then Julie was unbelievable. Truly unbelievable," Roberts continued. "Kind of willed us to this. Her stat line, I don't know if you guys have seen it, but 8 for 8, 3 for 3 from three, didn't miss a free throw, four assists, five steals and no turnovers. Yes, amazing. So she willed it, she was phenomenal today. Azurá Stevens, another double-double, 9th of the year. (Rickea Jackson) is a little banged up, (Kelsey Plum) is a little banged up. They got to get some good rest, which is great. So yeah, overall good day."

Allemand certainly was feeling it. But in the end, it was all about the team win for her.

"I'm just trying to read the game every time," Allemand observed. "I don't care about shooting two times, eight times. Most of the time, I'm trying just to (read the game well). And today, I had more chance than (usual). So I took it and it was in.  So, you know, when it's like this, it's just amazing because then you keep going and you feel good. You feel confident on the court. And that's how I felt today. 

"I just care about the win today," Allemand continued. "That was the most important. And the fact that we're playing when we play as a team, I really enjoy it. That's really what matters to me. And the fact that we just playing hard in defense, like we say, we're flying around. And then in offense, we're just doing our game. Then I'm just a happy person at the end."

Stevens and Allemand noted about that fourth quarter barrage.

"I think defensively, Rae was just all over the place. You know, she flew into the side," Stevens said, referring to the dive Burrell had in the fourth quarter. "She just brought so much energy and it really fueled offense. And then like Coach said, Julie was just all over the place, was really reading when they were trying to get it to Paige (Bueckers). And we got some good steals in the beginning. So I think it just fueled our offense. And then we shared the ball tonight. I think we can all see what happens when that is how we play."

"I think we stay strong defensively," Allemand added. "We got some steals. And then we were just running and playing as a team. And when we play like that, I think that we're unstoppable."

While the Sparks led for most of the game, it was a close one in the third when the Wings erased a nine-point deficit and even had the lead before the period ended. But Allemand made that three to put the Sparks ahead for good. Then the Sparks added 16 straight and the Wings couldn't recover from that avalanche. Los Angeles played a line-up that included Allemand, Barker, Burrell, Dearica Hamby, and Stevens and they were flying all over the place defensively, especially Burrell.

As mentioned, Allemand led the Sparks with 21 points. Hamby had 15 points and eight boards while Stevens had her double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. Burrell scored all 13 of her points in that decisive fourth quarter.

On the Wings' side, Bueckers scored 18 points but only had eight shot attempts. Myisha Hines-Allen had a 15-13-7 line and took the bulk of the shots along with Maddy Siegrist, who had 13.

Tuesday will really be a huge day for the Sparks. They will take on the Mercury in Phoenix. If they win that game, they'll have to hope that the Storm lose to the Valkyries to get one final shot at the postseason.

Step 2 of 3 is next. And then hope there is a Step 3 on Thursday.