LOS ANGELES, CA – The best way to redirect people from topics and issues in your past is to do what you do best. After Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Wings, the only narrative around Liz Cambage was, this is why she is here.
In some respects, this was a brand new Cambage. While she wasn’t completely unphased by the refs missing several blatant fouls against her, the conversations with the refs were minimal. Instead, Cambage occasionally raised her hands as she ran down the court to transition on defense. She sacrificed her body to protect the paint. She boxed out. She hyped up her teammates. She put her foot on the gas and never let up.
So where has this Liz Cambage been? Do we need to dig up more controversy from her past every week to see this version of her night after night? Or, are things going exactly the way Head Coach and GM Derek Fisher said they would? Fisher said the team needed time to build chemistry. And judging from Nneka Ogwumike’s leadership, Brittney Sykes’ dominance, and the team’s movement on the floor, the chemistry is finally flowing.
But it wasn’t all roses and sunshine. The Wings were absolutely obsessed with the three-point shot. But they could not get the shot to fall. Yet, they never abandoned the outside shot. Which means if they got hot, they were going to present a real problem for the Sparks, who have consistently allowed teams to shoot the three at will.
Predictably, the energy of the Sparks once again began to fade. Luckily, the Wings three-point shot never got hot. That didn’t stop them from clawing their way back to put them in a position to win. Thank goodness for good old-fashioned animosity. After a foul involving Chiney Ogwumike, that caused a brief altercation, the tide once again turned in favor of the Sparks.
There was a possibility for the Wings to tie the game when Arike Ogunbowale went to the line to shoot two. For some reason, she decided to call on her inner Carmelo Anthony and was called for a technical foul after faking a free throw.
Her kicking the score table after was just an added bonus. But it did speak to how both teams wanted this win. This was the first game where Brittney Sykes, who usually dominates defensively, dominated on both sides of the ball.
Sykes finished the night with a Sparks career-high of 25 points. During the post-game interview, Sykes said, this game has been circled on their calendar since the Wings knocked them out of the playoffs last season.
The team finally has a little bit of a break until they face the Phoenix Mercury in Phoenix on Sunday, June 5th at 3 PM PST. The Sparks defeated the Mercury at home in Crypto Arena on May 25th. Hopefully, the Sparks can carry this recent burst of energy into the Footprint Center and get their second win against the team.
