Sparks Rebound in Style as Fever Fall 106-92
LA snaps their 3-game losing streak with an impressive win.
Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper
(Los Angeles, CA) - After a three-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Sparks (9-11) had something to prove. Without their star players, Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink, the Sparks had been unable to find rhythm on both ends of the court, struggling to connect and play with pace. That all changed on Wednesday night, as the Sparks used suffocating defense and strong connectivity on the offensive end to cruise to a 106-92 win over the Indiana Fever (12-9).
With Caitlin Clark on a minutes restriction, no Aliyah Boston, and the Fever on their second game of a four-game road trip, it was a ripe time for the Sparks to capitalize. Three players scored in double figures for Los Angeles, led by Nneka Ogwumike’s 24 points, Dearica Hamby’s 21, and Rae Burrell’s 22. Hamby and Ogwumike combined for 17 rebounds as well.
“Obviously, I didn’t have a very good shooting night last game,” Burrell said. “So I knew I needed to bounce back today…win or lose, we wanted to fight and compete.”
Nneka Ogwumike praised her team’s effort after the game.
“Yeah, we wanted to play hard. We wanted to own each possession and to compete at every level for the full 40 minutes of play. It’s really that simple. I think when you put your heart into playing that hard, the schemes, the plays, the execution, it comes to fruition,” Ogwumike added, “And tonight, it felt good emptying the tank as well, you know, just ensuring that anybody who was on the court was doing everything possible to make sure that we could win the possession.”
The first five minutes of the opening quarter appeared to be a continuation of the Sparks’ Monday night matchup against the Seattle Storm. All of the Fever’s shots were dropping while LA was unable to finish at the rim, and the Sparks’ defense continuously struggled to collect rebounds. By the time the first official timeout occurred, the Sparks already had four turnovers and four missed layups in a row.
Despite the rough start, the home team quickly turned things around. After a 6-0 run to end the first, the second quarter was all Sparks. Indiana’s seemingly simple passes were shifting into turnovers, and LA’s spacing in transition and patience began to flow. At the four-minute mark of the second quarter, among the Fever’s last 20 possessions, they had made just three field goals and had committed seven turnovers.
The Sparks went on a 12-0 run with three minutes remaining in the second as Hamby began to rebound and get easy layups, and Ogwumike began doing what she does best, creating space and making shots in the paint. After yet another turnover by the Fever, Ogwumike grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot and found Hamby, who finished with an easy layup, extending the Sparks’ 16-2 run. Capitalizing on turnovers and crashing the offensive glass is exactly what Los Angeles needed to secure the win.
As the game progressed, LA was able to counter every attempted run by Indiana. Despite Kelsey Mitchell dropping a game-high 29 points (9-18 FG), the Sparks never allowed the game to get close. They pushed Clark into four turnovers and forced the Fever into sloppy play with 17 total turnovers.
“I’m happy we won obviously, but I’m more happy with how we played,” head coach Lynne Roberts said. “We talked about playing more connected, having a little more smarts out there, defensively emptying the tank, getting out and running, and playing with pace.”
The Sparks will attempt to get another game in the win column as they face the Chicago Sky (7-14) on Friday, July 10th, at 7 p.m.
Photography Credits: LA Sparks/WNBA Photography
Social Media:
X/Twitter: (WNBAShortCorner)
Threads/Instagram: (WNBAShortCorner)
Bluesky: wnbashortcorner.bsky.social