LOS ANGELES, CA – The first thought going into the game where the seventh-place LA Sparks (10-13) would be facing off against the fifth-place Washington Mystics (15-10) without Nneka Ogwumike might be, uh-oh. Ogwumike is leading the team in points (18.4) and rebounds (7.1). After losing by 37 points to the Seattle Storm (15-8) with Ogwumike playing, the Sparks were going to have to fill that void by committee or, have someone have a big game.
This was the perfect time for someone to step up and have a big game. One might assume that would be Liz Cambage, as she has yet to step into a dominant role. Or perhaps this was Lexie Brown’s moment. After all, she let the world know she was supposed to be in the 3-Point All-Star competition.
However, at the end of the third quarter, Brown went 1/3 from beyond the arc with only three points. She would finish the night with seven points, but didn’t take a shot from outside the entire fourth quarter.
Instead, it was Katie Lou Samuelson who was showing her shooting prowess. Samuelson was 4-5 from downtown and finished with 14 points.
Going into the fourth quarter, it seemed like the Sparks ruled in favor of the committee. Kristi Toliver put up a three. Brown bullied her way through the lane for an aggressive layup. Brittney Sykes was being her usual defensive self while also putting up 16 points.
The Sparks defended Natasha Cloud fairly well despite her dropping 21 points. Elena Delle Donne was an entirely different story as she often had wide-open shots and dropped 26 points. Chiney Ogwumike said the team did not have a plan for Delle Donne but just wanted to be aggressive defensively.
“I think we have a philosophy that no matter who our opponent is we try to be aggressive,” said Ogwumike. She went on to say “once we play our brand of defense, we don’t care who our opponent is.”
Outside of Sykes, that “brand of defense” has yet to manifest itself consistently. And the Sparks will have to make sure it does so quick fast and in a hurry because as Brittney Sykes pointed out, the Sparks are in control of their own playoff destiny.
The journey to the playoffs starts this Thursday at 7:30 PM PST when the Sparks have their rematch against the Chicago Sky (17-6) at Crypto Arena.
