LA Sparks 2024 Olympic Recap: Dearica Hamby, Team USA fall in 3x3 play

The Los Angeles Sparks are well represented at the Olympics, but Dearica Hamby, Kia Nurse and Stephanie Talbot are all still looking for their first wins in Paris.

With the Los Angeles Sparks' Kia Nurse, Stephanie Talbot, Li Yueru and Dearica Hamby all participating in the Olympic games, we'll be covering how the women are doing in Paris daily.

Here's today's recap of the action.

Team USA 3x3

Team USA began their quest to defend their gold medal in 3x3 basketball on Tuesday against Germany. The result did not go their way, as they lost 17-13.

The game started so well for Team USA, with Hamby contributing a pair baskets as they began on a 5-0 run.

Germany responded with a 6-0 run of their own and the game quickly became a tight affair. It was a race to either reach the 21-point mark or a lead after ten minutes of play.

Hamby played relatively well, ending the game with four points and seven rebounds. But it wasn't enough as Sonja Greinacher went on a tear, scoring five of Germany's last seven points to give them the victory.

Team USA will have to quickly move on after this loss. Their next game comes against Azerbaijan on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. PT.

Team Canada 5x5

Nurse started for Canada just like she has for the Sparks all season. Unfortunately for the Canadians, they weren’t able to pull out a victory against France losing 75-54 on Monday.

The game was going in Canada's favor after the opening quarter when they were up by three, but Les Blues shut that down in the second quarter, outscoring Canada 23-2 to take them out of the game.

Nurse played relatively well, scoring 11 points on 4-9 shooting for Canada, but the performance wasn't enough to recover from that second-quarter collapse. Things won't get any easier for Canada as they face third-ranked Australia on Thursday.

Team Australia 5x5

Talbot, like her Sparks counterparts, lost her first game, with Australia losing to Nigeria 75-62 on Monday.

The loss was a shock not only because of Australia's dominance in basketball but also because Nigeria had not won an Olympic game in basketball on the women's side since 2004.

Individually, Talbot had a good game being an elite distributor and cleaning up the glass. She ended the game with three points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Her scoring was low, but the biggest issue was her efficiency. Talbot went 1-10 from the field, encapsulating the shooting woes Australia had as a team as they finished 38.6% from the field.

At least, with Australia and Canada facing off next, one player from the Sparks will taste victory in Paris soon.

Hopefully, it's not the only victory incoming, but so far, it’s been individually strong play mixed with team losses for the ladies in France.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.