Sparks fourth quarter scoring drought leads to opening game defeat

The Sparks entered the fourth with the game tied but failed to score for four minutes, leading to a disappointing start to the 2024 season.

LONG BEACH — It's a new season of Sparks basketball, but the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Los Angeles kicked off the 2024 campaign, losing to Altlanta 92-81. The game took place away from their home, Crypto.com Arena and instead was played at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach while their main stadium undergoes renovations.

If anyone wondered if Walter Pyramid could handle a professional team playing a game there, the answer was a resounding yes on Wednesday. Despite the small venue, the energy rivaled that of their downtown L.A. home, with Sparks fans consistently cheering for the up-and-coming stars Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson.

The Hollywood stars also showed up, with Magic and Cookie Johnson sitting courtside and Kim Kardashian also in attendance.

Yes, Los Angeles is a city full of stars, glamour and glitz, but success and relevancy can only be maintained with production. In the opening three quarters, the Sparks' promise was shown, keeping up with the Dream every step of the way.

L.A. benefited from a reinvigorated Kia Nurse, who made her Sparks debut and led the team with 17 points and 60% shooting entering the final frame.

Dearica Hamby demonstrated why she will be an offensive powerhouse all season long, scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Layshia Clarendon was quietly progressing toward her first career triple-double.

The Sparks have two top-four picks and the rookies were playing relatively well. Brink found herself in foul trouble but was perfect from the field entering the final ten minutes and Jackson had seven of the team's eight points off the bench.

Still, the score didn't indicate any separation as both teams entered the fourth even at 66. In fact, they were even at the end of every quarter, with the score tied at 26 after one and all square at 48 at the halfway mark.

This trend had to break in the final frame and unfortunately for the Sparks, it went against them. Los Angeles' lineup to begin the quarter was peculiar, starting the fourth with Hamby, Zia Cooke, Aari McDonald, Jackson, and Rae Burrell.

Not only did this five-player lineup not play a minute in this game prior to the fourth, but these were Burrell's first minutes of the contest.

The lack of synergy from this unit was glaring, as they failed to score a basket while the Dream went on a 9-0 run. This run included a five-point burst by Rhyne Howard, which was capped off with a stepback 3-pointer that brought Sparks defender Burrell to her knees, forcing head coach Curt Miller to call a timeout.

Miller discussed the decision to go with this unit and how it sparked an Atlanta run they never recovered from after the game.

"I thought our offensive inefficiency to start the fourth quarter was as much contributing to our defense," Miller said. "We did not get any paint touches early in the fourth quarter and we were stuck at the arch and, really, around the perimeter, didn't have a lot of movement with that group. That offensive inefficiency allowed them to get out in transition and move us and play off of missed baskets where maybe your defense and schemes aren't as on point.

"And then they went at us inside early in that fourth quarter. Again, it was a tough 9-0 run to start. I take that as my responsibility because we were playing a lot of the second unit altogether instead of sprinkled in with some of the starters who had really good nights."

The Sparks ended the scoring drought when starter Nurse returned and hit a corner 3-pointer, but Los Angeles never got within striking distance as both teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way.

With this being the first of 40 matchups, you don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but this is exactly the kind of game young teams lose. It's tight late, the inexperience catches up to you and you find ways to lose instead of ways to win.

Jackson played a short shift and went 0-2 in the fourth and Brink was productive with five points but couldn't be as aggressive given that she had five fouls. These are some of the growing pains of a young team learning how to play high-level basketball. Things won't get easier for Los Angeles as they play the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on the road on Saturday.

Still, Miller had more good than bad to say about his young team after the defeat.

"I loved our scrappiness loved our tempo for the most part,” Miller said. “I think you see that we can be a better 3-point shooting team than we were last year overall. We did not have a good night at the foul line, but just so much positives. In a build year, you got to take away the positives and I just thought we just played so hard."

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.