A poor offensive showing from the Sparks saw them fall to the Aces at home to kick off Commissioner’s Cup play, 79-69.
LA, who is still without Kelsey Plum, shot 30.8% from the field and 26.1% from the 3-point line. Rae Burrell and Era Wheeler were the lone players on the night who shot above 50%.
Rae Burrell started the offense off for LA with four points off two impressive layups. Ariel Atkins and Nneka Ogwumike also combined for four themselves. Jackie Young was leading the Aces with three points off a triple.
A’ja Wilson started to heat up, scoring four in a row for Las Vegas.
Neither team, though, put together consistency with their offense, which kept the score low throughout the quarter. With under a minute left, Los Angeles had missed eight shots in a row.
At the end of the first, the Aces were up by four.
Erica Wheeler started the offense for the Sparks in the second period with a shot in the paint. Chelsea Gray responded on the other end by completing a three-point play.
Kierstan Bell drained a 3-pointer, further extending the Aces lead.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus provided a quick spark for the Aces with three points to put the Aces up double digits and force an LA timeout.
Atkins converted on a pair of free throws to stop some bleeding for Los Angeles. Wilson entered double figures with 11 points. Atkins and Burrell knocked down back-to-back threes that cut the deficit to single digits.
The purple and gold cut what was once a 15-point Aces lead down to seven with a 14-6 scoring run to end the half.
Wilson scored on a midrange jumper to start the third period. LA then turned the ball over, leading to a layup by NaLyssa Smith. Las Vegas seemed to be on their way to a big scoring run until Burrell scored five straight to stop the momentum the Aces had built. Wheeler drained a much-needed triple for Los Angeles.
At the 4:47 mark, Las Vegas had a nine-point lead.
The Sparks only had one player in double figures and that was Burrell with 16 points. Nneka was close behind with eight, while Atkins and Wheeler had seven each. Wilson erupted for four straight points.
Nneka became the second player in double figures for LA with 10 points. Going into the fourth period, the Aces had a 13-point lead.
Parker-Tyus got the offense started in the final frame for Las Vegas with a layup. Cameron Brink notched five much-needed bench points for LA.
Despite Brink helping, Los Angeles still struggled heavily with finding consistent offense. In total, they only had 11 bench points.
At the 5:21 mark, the Aces were up by 13.
The Sparks continued to struggle offensively. They were shooting 25% from behind the arc and 28% from the field. Chance Gray converted on a three-point play, making it a 10-point deficit for LA with three minutes left.
A great defensive stop by Brink led to Burrell scoring and getting fouled, completing the three-point play. Los Angeles was now within seven with 2:40 left.
Wilson, however, was fouled on the other end and converted on a three-point play, putting a dent in what was becoming a fun comeback attempt. LA had been able to get the deficit to single-digits again, but Gray drained a dagger triple late to ice the game.
Key Player Stats
Burrell finished with a career-high 22 points. Atkins ended with nine points and seven rebounds. Nneka scored 12 points with 12 rebounds.
Wheeler pitched in with 10 points. Dearica Hamby had a slow offensive game with two points on 0-7 shooting. Brink scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished three dimes and blocked two shots in 20 minutes off the bench.
The Sparks’ next game will be against the Dallas Wings on Friday at 7:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
