In the penultimate game of the season matched up against the defending champions, the Sparks didn’t have much of a fight to offer, falling to the Aces on the road on Tuesday, 89-79.
While the score never truly got out of hand, LA never led after the opening minutes and trailed by double digits for nearly the remainder of the game, barring a brief run in the third quarter.
Erica Wheeler got things going for LA early with a triple. Stephanie Talbot was cooking for Las Vegas, scoring six of their first
15 points. Los Angeles struggled offensively, leading to 13-0 run from the Aces to open up a 10-point lead, forcing a Sparks timeout.
Both teams then took turns turning the ball over and missing a few shots, until A’ja Wilson scored in the paint. She had six points for the Aces. Los Angeles finished the quarter shooting a rough 25% from the field and 16% from behind the arc.
Rae Burrell was leading the Sparks with six points. At the end of the first, the purple and gold were down by 13.
Mai Yamamoto drained a 3-pointer for Las Vegas to start the second period. Wheeler converted on a jumper on the other end for LA. Los Angeles was trying to build consistency in their offense. Jihyun Park scored the first points off the bench for the Sparks on a jumper.
At the 5:50 mark, LA was down by 14.
Las Vegas was shooting 40% from behind the arc, while Los Angeles was shooting 20%. Wheeler scored a quick four straight for the Sparks. Nneka Ogwumike then scored on a layup, helping LA slowly chip away at the deficit.
While the threes weren’t falling, Los Angeles did bump their field goal percentage to 46% in the quarter.
The Sparks had built themselves an 11-0 scoring run. Jewel Loyd knocked down a triple to stop some of the bleeding for the Aces. Wheeler, who only had three points in the first quarter, was now at 13 points for the half.
At halftime, LA was down by nine.
The third period began with Nneka converting on a pair of free throws. The Aces then scored five in a row. Nneka got into double figures with 10 points. Morgan continued her stellar game off the bench, pushing her point total to 10. LA was playing well, shooting 40% in the quarter, with Las Vegas shooting 50%.
At the 3:49 mark, the Aces were up by 10.
Las Vegas then surged, draining three triples in a row, two of which came from Loyd. The quarter belonged mostly to the Aces, who built their lead to 17, but Los Angeles did cut into the lead to make it a 14-point deficit going into the fourth period.
Ariel Atkins knocked down a triple to start the final frame. The Sparks cut the deficit down to 13 with 5:40 left in the game. Las Vegas then scored five in a row. Wheeler responded with a three on the other end.
LA fought back, but it ultimately fell short as the Aces proved too much for Los Angeles.
Key Player Stats
Nneka finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Wheeler scored 16 points with four rebounds and five assists. Tonie Morgan pitched in with 14 points off the bench. Atkins notched nine points and two rebounds. Burrell ended with 11 points.
The Sparks’ final game of the season will be on Thursday against the Golden State Valkyries at 7:00 PM PT
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
