Sun eclipse Sparks with huge fourth quarter comeback

A fourth quarter collapse saw the Sparks fall to the Connecticut Sun in Boston to drop their fifth-straight game.

The Connecticut Sun completed a big fourth-quarter comeback to give the Sparks their fifth loss in a row, 69-61, on Tuesday night.

Tonight’s game was the first-ever WNBA game played at TD Garden in Boston, home of the dreaded Boston Celtics. It was a sold-out game — and the third-largest crowd for a game this season — with chants of “Beat LA” booming all through the arena, a chant far too familiar for Lakers fans.

Azurá Stevens was an offensive machine for LA with 14 points on 6-8 shooting from the field. Li Yueru was excellent defensively and scored eight points with seven rebounds.

Rickea Jackson had a strong showing with 14 points and six rebounds. Kia Nurse came off the bench for the first time this season and ended with nine points and three rebounds. Dearica Hamby had a slower game than usual but still grabbed 10 rebounds with her nine points.

The Sparks jumped to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Sun responded with a 12-2 run to go up six. Jackson had a strong start to the game with four early points. After trailing by as much as six, the Sparks retook the lead by one.

Their defense was working well, making the Sun struggle with their shots. Connecticut turned the ball over three times. LA attempted three 3-pointers and only made one. At the end of the first, Los Angeles was up three.

LA started the second, leading to Connecticut leaping ahead by two. Neither team established real dominance and kept exchanging the lead back and forth. Stevens was huge for Los Angeles, making all but one of her five shot attempts.

At the half, Connecticut was up 41-35.

The Sparks started the second half playing hard, but they weren’t making their shots. As a result, Connecticut went up by 10, which was the largest lead of the game. Los Angeles struggled heavily from behind the arc, only making one of their first 12 attempts.

Stevens stopped the bleeding and made a much-needed 3-pointer. The Sparks were still in the game despite struggling to make shots. Odyssey Sims struggled in the first half but started heating up, helping the Sparks trail just 53-46 after the third.

LA started the final frame strong with their defense, allowing them to cut the deficit to three. After both teams missed a few shots, Jackson knocked down a layup and was fouled for the and-1 to tie the game.

At the five-minute mark, the Sun stepped on the gas and finally made their first shot of the quarter. The Sparks answered back with consecutive scores to go up four. Connecticut shifted the momentum dramatically with a 7-0 run and went up by three.

Turnovers were a big problem down the stretch and Marina Mabrey and Brionna Jones knocked down shots to push the Sun’s lead to seven with 2:06 left. Unfortunately, head coach Curt Miller was ejected and the Sparks never found the offense to make a comeback.

Key Takeaways:

This was a classic game of great defense leading to great offense, up until the end of the fourth quarter when the Sparks fell apart.

LA’s turnovers were still ugly. They had 22.

The Sparks usually have better fastbreak numbers but tonight they had eight to the Sun’s 15.

The Sparks’ next game will be against the Washington Mystics on Friday at 4:30 PM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.