Sparks’ losing streak hits five
It was apparent from the start that beating the Connecticut Sun was going to be a tall order for the Sparks.
Margo Dydek, a 7-foot-2 center, clogged the inside while the rest of the Sun took care of the outside and hit the Sparks with a 110-89 loss, their fifth in a row and ninth in 11 games, in front of an announced 8,769 on Saturday night at Staples Center.
“You can only blame ourselves because we’re the ones in the uniforms,” center Christi Thomas said. “It’s not an easy situation and it’s not what this organization is about. We’re just trying to claw and dig and find our way out of it and try to come out of it in some kind of positive light.”
There weren’t many positive vibes to be found in the Sparks’ first five-game losing streak since 1998.
“I thought we were about defense, but obviously, we’re not,” Coach Michael Cooper said. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and keep drawing. The bottom line is, these players know our concept, they know our philosophy, they know the game plan when they go out there, and now it’s on them. They’ve got to get the job done.”
The Sparks (7-11) were victimized by a Connecticut squad that is suddenly the hottest-shooting teams in the league.
The Sun (7-11) dropped a 111-109 double-overtime decision to the Phoenix Mercury on Friday despite making a team-record 16 three-point baskets in 31 tries after starting the game as the worst three-point shooting team in the league.
On Saturday, Connecticut was even more accurate, making 11 of 15 three-point shots, and led by as much as 96-73 with 5 minutes 45 seconds to play even though the Sparks had five players score in double figures. Sidney Spencer, who had a season-high 18 points in a loss to Indiana on Thursday, led the Sparks with 15 points and six rebounds.
Dydek, the tallest player in the WNBA, forced a turnover and scored four key points in one stretch of the third quarter after the Sparks had reduced a 21-point second-quarter deficit to 67-60 with 3:09 to play in the quarter.
The Sparks had the services of forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin, but she was unable to be of much help against her former teammates. McWilliams-Franklin, traded from Connecticut in February, has been the Sparks’ leading scorer and rebounder, but had sat out three of the team’s previous five games because of a sore right hamstring and had not practiced in the last week.
The Sun played without starting forward Nykesha Sales, who scored 22 points in the double-overtime loss to Phoenix but sat out because of a sore left ankle.
Connecticut didn’t need her, however, as guard Evanthia Maltsi and forwards Katie Douglas and Asjha Jones picked up the slack.
Douglas finished with 28 points on 11-for-18 shooting, including five three-point baskets. Maltsi finished with 23 points and four assists, and Jones had 21 points.
The trio helped Connecticut jump to a 14-5 lead in the first three minutes and the Sparks trailed, 35-15, as Maltsi finished with 12 points in the first quarter, in which the Sun set a team record for points in a quarter.