Napheesa Collier, Lynx blowout Sparks in Commissioner’s Cup

A huge game from Napheesa Collier led the Lynx to a dominant win over the Sparks in Saturday’s Commissioner Cup game.

The Lynx jumped ahead early and dominated the Sparks on the road on Saturday morning, winning 101-78.

LA now drops to 2-3 in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Rickea Jackson ended with 18 points and five rebounds. Kelsey Plum had 20 points and four assists. Dearica Hamby scored 10 points to go with her 12 rebounds. Emma Cannon had 14 points off the bench.

The Sparks had 21 turnovers that Minnesota converted into 29 points. They were also outscored 39-22 in bench points. LA was playing even more shorthanded with Odyssey Sims out due to personal reasons.

The game started as a close battle with both teams hot from the field. Rickea continued her great play from the last game by draining a 3-pointer. Courtney Williams was cooking for the Lynx with eight of their first 14 points.

Minnesota forced Los Angeles into three turnovers with their strong defense as the Lynx went on a 10-2 scoring run. The Sparks had trouble slowing down the Lynx, who were shooting a highly efficient 71% from the field.

Napheesa Collier was the first player for either team in double-digits. She was also 2-3 from behind the arc. Kelsey knocked down a much-needed 3-pointer to stop some bleeding. Still, it was pure dominance for the Minnesota Lynx, who were up 19 at the end of the first.

Dearica opened the second quarter with a steal that led to a layup on the other end. Not a single thing went right for the Sparks after that, aside from a layup from Emma Cannon. The defense was non-existent and Minnesota continued to pour on the offense.

Williams was still on fire for the Lynx as she drained her third three of the half. LA still had a tough time containing Collier, who had 26 points.

The Sparks scored just 11 points for the entire quarter. They shot 23% and only converted on three of their 13 shot attempts. As a whole, the team was shooting an abysmal 23% from the field.

At halftime, the purple and gold were down by 32. Collier had 26 points at the break, matching the Sparks' total as a team.

Minnesota missed its first few shots to start the second half, but its defense led to more opportunities to score. Williams was fouled from behind the arc and drained two of three free throws. The Sparks found a bit more rhythm in the quarter, steadily trying to chip away at Minnesota’s sizable lead.

Rickea and Kelsey were the only players for the Sparks in double figures. After a rough first half, Kelsey started cooking in this quarter, making all three of her shot attempts. Rickea drained a much-needed 3-pointer.

The Sparks outscored Minnesota by five in the quarter, but that didn’t matter as they were down 27 at the end of the third.

Los Angeles carried the small amount of momentum they had created into the final frame, scoring a quick 10 points. They did outscore the Lynx again for the quarter, but it wasn’t enough to mount any comeback.

Key Takeaways:

Let’s file this game under “Do Not Recall” and pretend it never happened.

The Sparks’ next game will be Tuesday against the Seattle Storm at 7:00 AM PT.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.