The Sparks picked up their biggest win of the season in improbable fashion. Despite trailing by 17 points in the second half, LA rallied in a big way, stunning the Storm for an enormous 91-85 win.
After trailing 85-80 with 2:47 left, the Sparks scored the final 11 points of the game. Their biggest deficit came early in the third quarter when the Storm led 56-39.
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Dearica Hamby dazzled, finishing with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Rickea Jackson was close behind, pouring in 23 points on 7-14 shooting. Kelsey Plum had 14 points and seven assists.
Rae Burrell was huge off the bench, pouring in 11 points on 5-6 shooting. Brink had a strong showing with nine points and five rebounds, but she fouled out in just 13 minutes of play.
Azurá Stevens had just three points, but grabbed eight rebounds, while Julie Allemand only had two points with six assists.
With the win, the Sparks improve to 19-20 and 1.5 games out of the playoffs. The Storm and Fever both are 1.5 games up on LA while the Valkyries are two games up in the sixth seed. The victory also sealed the season series for the Sparks, which could prove vital at season’s end.
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The Sparks actually started the game strongly on the back of Hamby, who scored the team’s first six points. Free throws from Jackson, a layup from Plum and a 3-pointer from Azurá Stevens had LA ahead 13-10.
Seattle, though, responded with a 10-0 run that was capped off with a Gabby Williams layup that forced a Sparks timeout. LA responded enough to head into the second period trailing just 25-20.
However, it was during that period that Seattle really started to separate itself. The Storm connected on a barrage of 3-pointers, including three straight from Nneka Ogwumike as their lead reached double digits at 36-25.
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Magbegor went on her own 6-0 run to give Seattle a 14-point advantage, its largest lead of the half. Free throws from Jackson and Plum and a layup from Hamby pulled LA back within 10, but the Storm ended the half with threes from Skylar Diggins-Smith and Erica Wheeler to lead 53-39 at the break.
The lead did grow to 17 points early in the second half before LA scored 11 unanswered points, Jackson accounting for six of them. While Seattle steadied itself briefly, an and-one from Cam Brink made it a 59-53 game just past the midway point of the period.
However, five straight points from Seattle, fueled by the always-present turnovers from LA, made it a double-digit game again. While Brink did have another and-one, she also committed a pair of fouls on the defensive end in a 17-second span, putting her in foul trouble with five and forcing her to the bench.
Again, though, the Sparks still had a run as a 3-pointer from Plum made it a five-point game. While Seattle had a late three-point play to make it an eight-point game, Jackson’s running, one-handed 3-pointer at the buzzer kept it at a five-point lead going into the fourth.
After a cold start from both teams, Plum had a chance to make it a two-point game with an open 3-pointer after dropping Erica Wheeler with a crossover. Instead, she missed the shot and Seattle converted on a 3-point play, making it a 76-68 game.
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Every Storm run was responded to with a spurt from the Sparks, keeping it between six and 10 points. A spinning, fadeaway mid-range jumper from Plum, though, pulled LA within four.
But another turning point came on the ensuing defensive possession when Brink fouled out. On the ensuing inbound, Ogwumike converted an and-one, making it a seven-point game again.
Another run from the Sparks included a pair of free throws from Jackson to make it an 83-80 game. After the two sides traded baskets again, Jackson knocked down an open mid-range jumper before an and-one from Hamby gave LA’s its first lead of the game since that 13-10 lead in the first quarter.
A missed 3-pointer from the Storm led to a pair of freebies from Allemand, giving LA an 89-85 lead with 32.9 left. On the next possession from the Storm, Jackson came away with a huge block at the rim, then knocked down two free throws to make it a six-point lead.
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The Storm missed a three on their final possession of the game, finishing an icy 11-37 from the field in the second half.
Takeaways
Easily the win of the season. This was a must-win game given the seeding implications and Seattle being just above them. Getting the win was imperative enough, but to do it with an improbable rally was incredible.
Turnovers should have doomed the Sparks on Monday, as they have too often this year. They committed 18 of them that led to 20 Seattle points. It’s just that the Storm committed 14, which led to 21 LA points.
The schedule is still tough enough down the stretch that I doubt LA will ultimately make the playoffs, but they’ll damn sure go down fighting at the very least.
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You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
