LOS ANGELES, CA – There are plenty of cities where win or lose, fans will come out and support their favorite team. Los Angeles is not that city. Outside of the fact that there are a plethora of ways to stay entertained here, there are also winning franchises that can appease any fair-weather fan.
After seeing Phoenix Mercury Forward Diana Taurasi shoot lights out during warmups on Wednesday night, and knowing how the Sparks have struggled defensively, it was questionable that this would be the game that snapped the team’s five-game losing streak.
From the start of the game against the Mercury (2-5), the Los Angeles Sparks looked like they wanted to prove to fans in Crypto.com Arena that there is still plenty of ‘Time To Show.’ The defense was on-point, the team played with energy, and they didn’t give up on plays. Even more pivotal was Brittney Sykes finally got some help on the defensive end. The Mercury’s fate was sealed after fans saw Chennedy Carter get a monster block over All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith in the second half.
Liz Cambage was once again frustrated with fouls. However, it was the lack of foul calls in her favor. Although she was right some of the time, the pleading with the refs after every contact caused her to miss opportunities to transition and get back on defense. That still did not stop the All-Star center from scoring 21 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, two steals, a block in the Sparks 99-94 win over the Mercury.
With backup forward Chiney Ogwumike back on the floor for the first time since May 17th and the ability to stretch the floor with Katie Lou Samuelson coming back, the Sparks (3-5) looked like an entirely different team.
The Sparks will need to maintain that energy and rack up some road wins when they face the Indiana Fever (2-7) on Friday at 4 PM PST.
