LOS ANGELES — Before Sunday afternoon’s game against the New York Liberty, Sparks coach Curt Miller challenged his team to match or exceed the visitors’ energy.
“We have nothing to lose,” Miller said before tip-off. “They are expected to bounce back, but I like our preparation. I like where we’re at mentally going into this game.”
It took most of three quarters for the Sparks to meet that challenge, falling behind 21-2 in the first quarter and trailing by as much as 27 points in the third before a fourth-quarter run made the final score look more respectable in an 87-79 loss at Crypto.com Arena, their ninth defeat in the past 11 games.
The Sparks pulled within 80-70 with 2:56 left in the game on an alley-oop layup by Dearica Hamby, who finished with a team-high 21 points, six rebounds and three steals. A three-point play by Hamby capped a 15-0 Sparks run, which cut the margin to 80-73 with 1:47 left.
“I was just playing hard and running the floor really well,” Hamby said. “Some activity got me going early and gave me some confidence to continue to be aggressive throughout the game but mostly I would say running hard.”
New York All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu answered with a 3-pointer to push the Liberty lead back to double digits and they held on for the wire-to-wire victory.
“Proud of our fight all the way to the finish,” said Miller, whose team was coming off back-to-back wins against Indiana to snap an eight-game losing streak.
The Liberty (19-6) finished with 26 assists on their 32 field goals and had a significant advantage over the Sparks (9-16) from the perimeter. New York finished 15 for 34 from 3-point range, outscoring the Sparks 45-15 from behind the arc.
“The learning lesson is you have to play almost with that sense of urgency and desperation that we played late with, all game,” Miller said. “There’s a thin line with our group and we’ve got to throw everything at them all game long.”
Hamby acknowledged the early deficit made the rest of the game an uphill climb.
“I would say there’s a couple of buckets that we probably wish we could get back and obviously not starting the game (down) 21-2. That’s a really big hole to come back from against a top-two team in this league,” Hamby said.
Jordin Canada scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. Azurá Stevens had 13 points. Nneka Ogwumike added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, for her second-lowest scoring output of the season.
Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 13 boards to pace the Liberty, who were playing their seventh game in 12 days. Marine Johannes was 5 for 7 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points (all before halftime), while Ionescu added 14 points, six rebounds and five assists and Courtney Vandersloot scored eight points with nine assists and six rebounds.
Ionescu and Johannes each hit two 3-pointers in a 19-0 run that made it 21-2 with 2:52 left in the first quarter. Ogwumike scored for the Sparks to make it 2-2 but they went scoreless for the next nearly-six minutes, missing 12 straight field-goal attempts.
New York made five 3-point attempts during the quick start while holding the Sparks to 1-for-15 shooting. Hamby then scored six of her team’s next nine points to make it 25-11 heading into the second quarter.
Sparks head coach Curt Miller told me his team has nothing to lose against the New York Liberty. That’s why he’s challenging his team to look to run against the Liberty, finding early and easy offense. #WNBATwitter pic.twitter.com/EXqQKuzhUs
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 30, 2023
The Sparks pulled within 10 points early in the second quarter when Canada used a nice crossover and pull-up mid-range jumper against Ionescu to make it 28-19.
The Liberty led 51-35 at halftime then opened the second half with a 13-4 run, powered by nine quick points from Stewart. The Sparks trailed 69-50 heading into the fourth but took some solace in their late surge.
“We just played with a lot of heart,” Stevens shared. “Sometimes I think we can get wrapped up in schemes or this and that, but when you get on the court, who is playing with heart and I think that’s what we did. We were scrambling, talking, hustling and we were just fighting all together that last unit that was in, so we have to find a way to do it the whole game.”
Sparks forwards Azurá Stevens and Dearica Hamby on the team’s 87-79 loss to the New York Liberty. Stevens said the Sparks played with a lot of heart late but need to do that for 40 minutes. Hamby said the Sparks need to find their identity and what makes this team unique. pic.twitter.com/Ao0InQOat3
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 30, 2023
Miller had wanted his team to get out and run against New York, but the Sparks managed just four fast-break points through the first three quarters.
“It’s hard to fast break when you can’t get stops, and that was a lot of the story early,” Miller said. “At the same time, we have to keep running. I thought Dearica had a good night rim running. It wasn’t always rewarded … she puts pressure on the rim,” Miller said.
The teams will square off again Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
LA Sparks head coach Curt Miller assess his team’s 87-79 loss at home to the New York Liberty. pic.twitter.com/OidwBJKO6X
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) July 30, 2023
