LOS ANGELES — More than anything, Sparks coach Derek Fisher said he wanted the Sparks to fight harder than they had in their previous four games – all losses.
“The only takeaway that I really care about tonight,” he said before his Sparks defeated the Las Vegas Aces 86-74 on Thursday night, “is how many times you see Sparks players fighting and knocking people around and being really physical and competitive.”
Before 10,295 fans at Staples Center, the Sparks (5-6) played sufficiently gritty, animated – and downright joyful – basketball to beat the surging, talented Las Vegas Aces in a game that got, as the coach ordered, a bit chippy during the second half when rookie center Kalani Brown and Aces star Liz Cambage got tangled up.
“I think,” Sparks forward Chiney Ogwumike said with a chuckle, “we’re finding out that we’re a team with an edge. We’re not finesse. We need somebody to get knuck and buck, you know what I’m saying?
“We need Candace to start telling people off, we need Nneka to get turnt, that’s what we need to sort of hone us in … we’re not nice girls, Disney princesses. (We’re) some tough ladies, and it’s just cool, because that’s who we are. Like Coach said, ‘We’re not Hollywood where we can walk in and be Showtime. We’re gonna be grit and grind.’”
Brown proved Ogwumike’s theory, though she seemed to surprise herself with her reaction during a sequence in the third quarter, when Cambage pulled her hair as the two battled for position near the basket (Cambage was assessed a flagrant foul). In response, Brown shoved Cambage (and received a technical foul).
“She told me she was gonna pull my hair,” an amused Brown explained. “I just didn’t think she was really gonna do it. And she really did it! So my reflex was to push. … but that shows you, ‘Welcome to the league.’ Another welcome-to-the-league moment, which I’m starting to think is not a positive phrase.”
The Sparks’ already stoked energy was further heightened thereafter – helped by Riquna Williams’ pull-up jumper to beat the third-quarter buzzer and give the Sparks a 66-53 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Williams extended the Sparks’ advantage to 76-57 with a pair of quick 3-pointers. Las Vegas (6-5) – which blew out the Sparks 83-70 in the season opener for both teams on May 26 – closed to within 11, but another Williams 3-pointer made it 81-67 with 3:31 left. She finished with 18 points, going 7 for 16 from the floor, including 3 for 6 from beyond the arc.
Parker’s 3-pointer with 59.4 seconds left gave her 18 (on 6-for-12 shooting) and put the Sparks ahead 84-72. An Aces’ shot clock violation and a Chelsea Gray (18 points, six assists and no turnovers) jumper sealed the victory and stopped the Sparks’ slide.
With Nneka Ogwumike (rest) and Alexis Jones (knee) unavailable, and Williams starting for the first time this season, stepping in for Alana Beard, Fisher’s continued lineup experimentation yielded the desired results. What helped most, Fisher said, was the fact that the team had a couple of days of intense practices to reorient itself to the required level of competitive effort.
“For us, over a 10-day period of five games and travel, we just got soft in a sense, in terms of physical ability to sustain effort,” Fisher said.
“It’s almost like being on a fitness program, if you take a few days off and you try to go back in the gym, it just feels different. Even if you’ve been working out for six months in a row, you take four or five days, off, you’re just not the same and I think practice for us, we’re finding out, is gonna be a good thing.”
The Sparks were active defensively, finishing with 11 steals – including a couple for the record books: Two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Alana Beard had six steals, including her 700th, something only two other players in league history have done; Candace Parker recorded four, including her 400th.
The Sparks finished the first half ahead 40-34, energized entering the half thanks to Brown’s rebound and putback at the buzzer.
“It’s that cliche, ‘We may not have it all together, but together we have it all,’” said Chiney Ogwumike, who finished with six points and 10 rebounds. “Like, we really don’t have it all together. But together, if we’re on the same page and playing hard, we can win, right?
“So today, I think everyone felt it and it was kind of funny because you could feel the desperation in the fans. Everyone was like, ‘Now we’re on a run! We’re on a run!’ Everyone was just hyped. And we know that what we’re going through is not normal, but it’s part of growing pains. And that’s what makes nights like tonight worth it and fun.”
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Posted by https://goo.gl/TXzGV5The 3⃣rd-straight buzzer beater of the game
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