Sparks lacked the toughness needed to beat Lynx

The Sparks were unable to put points on the board in the second half causing them to lose their home opener against the Lynx

LOS ANGELES - Although the Sparks only won eight games last year, optimism has been elevated this season.

The team won their first game of the year, defeating the Valkyries on the road and were heading home ready to earn another victory. If they got the job done, they’d start the season with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2022.

However, the Minnesota Lynx had other ideas and dominated the Sparks, beating them 89-75 in Los Angeles.

While the game ended in a double-digit defeat, in the first half, Los Angeles was keeping up with Minnesota’s firepower.

Azurá Stevens was on a hot streak to start the game. She went a perfect 5-5 from the field and scored 14 points in the first as L.A. trailed by five after one quarter of play.

Kelsey Plum got going in the second quarter, scoring eight points and Dearica Hamby added 11, making it a one-point game heading into the break.

In the second half, the Lynx reminded everyone why they made the WNBA Finals last year. The Lynx defense suffocated the Sparks, as L.A. scored just 30 points combined in the third and fourth quarters.

Points in the paint became an impossibility. Los Angeles got good looks from deep but failed to convert them, going 9-26 from beyond the arc. The Lynx went on an early 9-0 run in the third quarter and never looked back.

“Minnesota amped up their pressure, and we were a little bit disjointed and kind of got away from playing the way we want to play,” Lynne Roberts said. “And, that synergy out there kind of went away and we got some tough calls and maybe they were fouls, but they just didn’t go our way. And so they’re momentum just kind of shifted and we just couldn’t come up with the collective chemistry to get going on offense.

“So we missed a lot of good shots too, though, right? So it’s not always, how many points did we score, but how many good shots did we take? 
And I thought we took some good ones in the second half that we just missed.”

Napheesa Collier was a player who didn’t miss much for the Lynx. She could sense the Sparks breaking, and she made sure they cracked. Collier ended the night with a game-high 23 points.

There’s no shame in losing to an elite team like the Lynx, but this matchup reminded the Sparks of the work they still need to do to play winning basketball consistently.

“Yeah, I think they just ratcheted up their pressure, and we kind of all took a step back,” Stevens said. “So we’ve got to find a way to just fight through that when teams pressure us and stop their physicality from that lens.”

With the Sparks being a young core and the Lynx being a championship-or-bust team, this contest was a matchup of two teams in different positions. For the Sparks to reach the level the Lynx are at, their ability to handle physicality when teams apply pressure will be critical.

“I think we’ve got to be mentally tougher,” Roberts said. “Everybody’s good in this league. The margin for error is so small. You cannot let what happened on the last possession affect the current one.

“And that’s where we’ve got to get better as a group, and just that next play mentality, doesn’t matter if I miss, if I get fouled, they don’t call it, they call it on me and it isn’t, it’s next play. And that’s where I think we’ve got some growth to do there, but I have no doubt we’ve got great leadership, great veterans.”

While the Sparks didn’t pass the test the Lynx presented them with, the good news is that they will take another exam on Wednesday when they face the Mercury on the road.

With some improved shot-making and a touch of toughness, they can earn another win and return to above .500 basketball.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.