Sometimes all it takes is one bad quarter. To coach Lynne Roberts, that’s what burnt the Sparks on Wednesday.
During an 87-78 loss to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at home, the Sparks made a late 11-3 run but it was far too little, too late after the Fever outscored the Sparks 24-14 in the second on 60% shooting.
“We got to show up to play when it’s the first quarter,” said point guard Kelsey Plum. “If you ever notice the pattern in the [WNBA,] talent is pretty spread out across the board. The hardest team playing wins a lot of the time. You got to make shots and stuff, but it’s kind of magical when you play hard, you kind of end up making shots. So I think that we have to have the intensity that we had in that run for a sustained game.”
Plum scored 25 points and Dearica Hamby added 16 points and eight rebounds, but the Sparks (0-2) were never really in it against the high-powered Fever after the brutal second frame.
Fever guard Caitlin Clark attempts a pass while falling to the court Sparks guard Erica Wheeler steps around her Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
The Sparks finished with 19 turnovers, which the Fever (1-1) capitalized on with 24 points.
The first quarter was a track meet. Indiana shot 53% and the Sparks went 47% from the floor, even with Cameron Brink’s monster block on Clark. Indiana extended an 11-point lead midway through the second quarter. By halftime, it was a 14-point deficit for the Sparks.
“We won the second half,” Roberts said. “We just had a really bad second quarter, offensively and defensively. I thought we came out a little reactive versus reading what they were doing, versus attacking them defensively, which I thought we did in the second half, and it was effective. So we’ve got to put 40 minutes together.”
Indiana outscored the Sparks 20-18 in the third quarter to lead by as much as 21 before the Fever’s shooting finally cooled to five for 14.
Behind some late baskets from Brink during an 11-3 run, the Sparks cut it to a seven-point deficit with just under two minutes left in the fourth.
Brink had a strong game (11 points, five rebounds, three blocks) after Roberts called for the third-year player to have more confidence off the bench. On Wednesday, she denied the notion that Brink was off to a “slow start.”
“We’ve played two games,” Roberts said. “She had a great game today. So the narrative of like, ‘What’s going on with Cam?’ it’s nothing. She’s doing great. So we got to stop the narrative.”
The Sparks went two for 15 from three-point range and missed their final 13 attempts. Roberts said they would need to take more — and make — those shots going forward.
“We’re a work in progress on that side,” she noted. “… In a spaced out offense, we’ve got to be able to knock down more threes more easily.”
Defensively, there was some progress, but the second quarter was too much to overcome. For much of the game, small forward Rae Burrell guarded Clark, who netted 24 points with nine assists. Shooting guard Kelsey Mitchell also finished with 23 points.
The Sparks will face the Toronto Tempo on Friday, their first matchup with the expansion club that picked up its first franchise win on Wednesday against Seattle.
There are plenty of areas to grow between consistent perimeter defense, range shooting and more spread out scoring.
It’s been just two games, but it might take some time for the Sparks to get there.
“I have all the faith in the world that when the regular season is over, we will be there in the playoffs and pushing,” Plum said. “So I have faith that it’s just the process.”
Etc.
Before the game, Roberts said forward Sania Feagin strained her lower left leg during the off day on Monday and will be out “for a little bit,” but the hope was that it’s not serious. … Atkins left Wednesday’s game against the Fever during the third quarter with a head injury and didn’t return. She finished with two points on free throws while shooting 0 for 4 from the field in 16 minutes. Roberts said that the shooting guard got “clocked” by an elbow.
