Sparks get blown out by Liberty in their first game back from break

Nothing worked for the Sparks who struggled in all aspects Thursday night against the New York Liberty.

The Los Angeles Sparks drop their first game back from the Olympic break with a brutal loss to the New York Liberty, 103-68.

Bronze medal-winning Dearica Hamby scored 14 points with 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Rae Burrell had a great game off the bench with 15 points, three assists and two rebounds.

Rickea Jackson had a slow start but ended with 13 points and an assist. Kia Nurse pitched in with 10 points, a rebound, an assist and a steal.

A rough start for the Sparks had them down ten early to the sharp-shooting Liberty. It was the same beginning we’ve gotten used to seeing with this young team. Li Yueru scored one point on a free throw to jump-start some offense. Crystal Dangerfield then knocked down a shot, but nobody else found any consistency.

There was no stopping New York as they kept dominating offensively, while Los Angeles couldn’t find any offensive spark. At the end of the first, the Sparks were down 19. The Liberty started the second quarter on a 9-0 run, building on their dominant performance.

Although New York's lead was still high, the Sparks started finding better shots and Hamby was heating up. Burrell was contributing off the bench, providing energy and a much-needed quick eight points.

L.A. had picked up momentum, but the Liberty withstood it and kept a huge lead of 29 into halftime.

The Liberty continued their dominant play into the second half. Simply put, this Sparks team couldn’t do much to chip away at the large deficit.

There wasn’t much else to acknowledge with L.A. as they couldn’t do anything while the Liberty kept shooting the lights out. The fourth quarter was garbage time.

Key Takeaways:

The talent gap between these teams was too big. With so many of their roster members out, the Sparks had no hope of success in this game.

It was nice to see Kia Nurse more aggressive offensively; she will need to step up more to help this team.

Turnovers are still a major issue that needs to be solved. They ended with 22 in the game.

The Sparks' next game will be against the Chicago Sky at home on Saturday at 2:00 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.