Sparks 102, Sun 91: Running into a proverbial buzzsaw

Defense wins championships, we’re told, but sometimes good offense is nice to have, too, and in the case of the

Los Angeles Sparks, they are on fire lately, scoring 100 or more for the fifth time in six games (the Sun were nice

enough to be a participant in two of them), beating the Sun 102-91 Thursday night.

It is the league-high seventh time Connecticut has given up 100 and it’s obviously something that needs improving in the future, but this was probably the least painful of those games and a game they were in until the final minutes.

Even the super defensive lineup of Leila Lacan, Saniya Rivers, Aneesah Morrow, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa that I love so much couldn’t quite stop the Sparks in the fourth quarter (although it at least slowed them down a little). In the preview, I wrote about maybe picking your poison, making Julie Allemand beat you, and all she did was get her first career triple double.

The Sun also didn’t have to contend with Cameron Brink in the first two meetings and Brink added 11 points and two blocks, hitting both of her three-pointers, good luck matching up with that. Los Angeles now has the second (Brink) and fourth (Rickea Jackson) picks in the 2024 draft firing on all cylinders and - if the season ended today - might be a problem for a top seed in the playoffs.

Speaking of the 2024 draft, the Sun traded the fifth pick - Jacy Sheldon - for the sixth pick - Aaliyah Edwards - at the trade deadline Thursday and it should make the Sun look a little different going forward. Much more on that in Sunday’s preview, but it could definitely pay dividends down the road.

Unfortunately, it’s another loss for the Sun, though, and with two more road games to go, that record is

not very attractive to look at. 

What else did we learn Thursday in one of the best offensive games of the season for the Sun?:


  1. Nelson-Ododa and Morrow on notice  - We hope Aaliyah Edwards’ arrival will reduce Tina Charles’ minutes. Please. But the other two players who it might cut into are Aneesah Morrow and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. It’s clear that Morrow’s future in the WNBA is going to have to be primarily at a 3. She’s shooting only 20.5% from three-point range and is 1 for her last 11, but most of them have been on the rim, at least, and she’s just going to have to develop that part of her game. Nelson-Ododa had a very tough first half, but did recover to score 8 points and grab 6 rebounds, finishing at a +2. 

  2. Too many minutes for Charles and Mabrey - They both had 36 minutes again, which is doubly troubling. With three games in four days coming up, they need to stay healthy, but you could also argue - especially in Mabrey’s case until the fourth quarter - that the team was flowing better without them at times. Mabrey scored 19 points and hit 5 three-points, but was also a -20 and a defensive liability, especially when she was trying to guard Rickea Jackson, which did not work at all.

  3. Creating turnovers -  The one chance the Sun had to slow the Sparks down seemed to be creating turnovers, which may be Los Angeles’ offensive kryptonite in the end, but - although Rivers and Lacan had a couple of steals and layups - the Sparks finished with 14 turnovers (17.1% of possessions), which is not awful, but not good enough to slow down LA, who finished at 1.244 points per possession and took 26 free throws. The Sun actually attempted 18 more field goals (80 to 62) in this game, but it didn’t matter.


Player of the game:  Bria Hartley - Hartley finished with 16 points and 4 three-pointers on a night where she was questionable due to an illness. She was not traded at the deadline, and Sheldon was, meaning that there should be plenty of minutes for her the rest of the season.


Inside the numbers : 2 -  Number of three-pointers Migna Toure made off the bench, and I’m not sure why the Sun haven’t moved to sign her for the rest of the season. She offers a lot of the same things Rivers does, but she can hold her own defensively and definitely looks like she belongs. 

Under the radar: The Sun obviously look a lot better when they are hitting shots and went 13-for-29 from behind the arc, which probably isn’t sustainable. Mabrey finished 5-for-10, which means the rest of the team was 8-for-19, led by Toure’s 2-for-2. Down the road, especially with Sheldon gone, the Sun’s offense may depend on the shooting of Leila Lacan (who had three more steals), Rivers, and Morrow.

Kelsey Plum got into it with Saniya Rivers in the fourth quarter, which might be the first time we’ve seen Rivers involved in some extracurriculars. It doesn’t really seem to be Rivers’ thing, but if you’re going to be an elite defender, you have to tick some people off, so hopefully it’s not the last time.

Quotable:  “They were playing a little harder than we were in the first quarter and they’ve got some really good rebounders down there. It’s hard to run and play with pace if you’re taking it out of the net. If we want to continue to win, we have to rebound.” - Los Angeles coach Lynne Roberts

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