HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Sparks didn't have enough at the end of this road trip.
Los Angeles fell behind by nine points with under four minutes left. They ended up having a rally towards the end of the game but couldn't tie in the waning seconds of the contest. The Sparks (4-4) are not going to sweep their road trip after their loss to the Sun (2-8), 84-81.
The Sparks did finish 3-1 in the trek but head coach Lynne Roberts was disheartened with falling short of going undefeated.
"I'm proud of the fact that we've gone 3-1 in that four-game road stretch," Roberts said. "I'm happy about that. I'm really disappointed in today. So it's hard to kind of see the positive in this moment. But I think, over the stretch, we found our rhythm offensively. We (were) better organized. Tonight was just a bad night."
Los Angeles had 16 turnovers, although they only had four after the half. Still, every possession counts.
"Honestly, just rushing on our end," Sparks guard Ariel Atkins said. "Not being poised with the ball. And being a little disconnected on the offensive end tonight."
The Sparks were playing a game for the second consecutive night. Again, back-to-backs aren't ideal in professional basketball but Coach Roberts didn't want to use it as an excuse.
"Maybe but I don't buy that," Roberts answered when asked about the team being fatigued. "Everybody in this league has to play back-to-backs. Everybody gets in late or early, 2.30. At some point, (the team has) to lace them up the next day. The tough teams find a way. So maybe it was a factor but I don't buy it. I think Connecticut... I give them a lot of credit. They deserved to win today. They did. They outtoughed us, outexecuted, outplayed... and still we had a shot, right? But we just were not... we were not good.
"So, yes, I'm sure fatigue... I'm not trying to downplay what our players go through," Roberts continued. "But the great teams, you find a way to have a toughness, physical and mental, to still be good enough. We didn't have to score 117; we just have to be good enough to get it done, just clean enough offensively. I thought we were rushed. We weren't very connected on the same page. And defensively, we just kind of didn't disrupt much, let them get their stuff."
Fatigue or not, what matters is the end result. The Sparks ball movement wasn't as great as previous games as they only had 16 assists in 27 made field goals.
"I think just sticking together, sticking to the game plan, and just executing that is what's going to get us through these tough games," Sparks wing Rae Burrell said when it came to close games.
The Sparks were down, 75-66, as the clock went past four minutes. Erica Wheeler and Nneka Ogwumike hit some tough baskets to whittle down the deficit. Then Burrell hit a three to cut it to 81-79 with under a minute left. The Sparks were able to get a stop but Dearica Hamby missed a lay-up that would've tied the game. The Sparks had to play the foul game but the Sun made enough free throws to get their second win.
Sparks had a late rally that enabled all five starters to hit double digits. Burrell and Atkins each had 16 to lead the Sparks; Atkins also had four rebounds, three blocks, and four steals. The Sun were led by Aneesah Morrow, who started her fourth game of the season and had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Kennedy Burke came off the bench to score 14 while Leila Lacan made her season debut and scored 12 points. Brittney Griner did end up playing after being deemed questionable but was out of the game after being inadvertently poked in the eye by Erica Wheeler in the second quarter.
The Sparks are going home for the next week as they start a three-game stay at Crypto.Com Arena. Their first game on this stand? Round 3 against the reigning, defending champion Las Vegas Aces.