Sparks Fall Late in 94-87 Loss to Phoenix
Noemie Brochant scored a career-high in the Mercury's win.
Written By: Molly Tepper
Twitter: mollytepper
(Los Angeles, CA) In their fourth and final matchup of the regular season, the Los Angeles Sparks (12-20) fell to the Phoenix Mercury (13-22) in a closely contested battle, 94-87. Neither team was able to break away as the game featured 12 ties and 16 lead changes. Poor offensive looks and an inability to convert against the Mercury’s fourth-quarter zone continued to hamper the Sparks down the stretch as they dropped their 20th game in a season that has had no shortage of difficult finishes.
In the pre-game, Coach Lynne Roberts talked about how they were going to have to play differently against the Mercury this time around:
“What crushed us last time was the threes and just not communicating on different actions. We’ve got to clean that up, which we can. And then if [DeWanna Bonner] does end up inside, then we’re gonna have to rotate and do some things.”
In a closely matched first quarter, the Mercury shot 50% from the field, but the Sparks answered with efficient defensive rebounding and smart shot selection in the paint. Off the bench, Cameron Brink had three of the Sparks’ 12 rebounds. On the final possession of the first period, Brink grabbed a defensive board, then ran the floor, collected an offensive rebound, and made a game-tying layup to end the quarter at 23-23.
Brink opened the second quarter with defensive pressure on Kahleah Copper. However, she fell into foul trouble quickly. In recent games, Brink has gotten into foul trouble early, limiting her impact late in the game. So this time, she was pulled early in the second quarter to keep her foul total in check. Thankfully, Burrell was active, and in the final possession of the half, she made a steal and layup on the other end of the court, ending the half with seven points to put the Sparks ahead 47-44. LA’s defense looked consistent as they held Phoenix’s star players DeWanna Bonner, Kahleah Copper, and Alyssa Thomas to only 15 points combined. However, the Sparks’ troubles came from their 15 personal fouls in the first half.
Coming out of the half, problems began to strike as Copper, after a quiet four points in the first half, drove in the paint, cashing 11 points in just the third quarter. As the fourth quarter began, the Sparks trailed by one. In this tight contest, every possession mattered, and in the end, the Sparks did not capitalize on every one of them. Poor looks on offense and sloppy turnovers in crunch time ultimately led to LA’s demise. Phoenix’s Noemie Brochant, who scored a career-high 24 points, made a bucket from downtown, and an easy layup by Thomas put the Mercury up by five. LA had a few more chances to tie the game back up, but they were ultimately handed another loss, 94-87.
Coach Lynne Roberts discussed in the post-game what went wrong in the fourth quarter:
“They went to zone, and we just kind of stopped moving it. We got a little unsure. Zone offense isn’t rocket science. You just got to move the ball. We didn’t shoot well, obviously. We had 14 more shot attempts than them.”
The Sparks will head out on a three-game road trip. On their first stop, they will take on the New York Liberty (20-14) on Thursday, August 13th at 5 p.m.
Final Box Score
Photography Credits: LA Sparks/WNBA Photography
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