In one of the worst losses of the season, the Sparks were routed from start to finish by the Dream, losing 124-88.
Atlanta opened up a double-digit lead late in the first quarter, blew the lead open to 20 points in the second frame and never looked back. They shot 63.9% from the field and 61.5% from the 3-point line.
Dearica Hamby opened with a layup. The Dream then responded with nine points in a row, forcing an early timeout call from Los Angeles. Everyone but Rhyne Howard had scored at least two points for Atlanta.
Out of the break, Erica Wheeler drained a triple for the Sparks.
Angel Reese and Allisha Gray combined for 10 points. Wheeler was leading LA with just three points. Los Angeles already had eight turnovers.
The lead stretched to 12 for Atlanta. Los Angeles had gone on a three-minute scoring drought until Chance Gray knocked down a three.
At the end of the first, the Sparks were down by 22.
Wheeler was fouled early in the second period and converted on both free throws to put LA on the board first. Although Nneka Ogwumike was able to score on a midrange jumper, it was still a brutal stretch for the Sparks. Reese was now in double figures with 16 and Howard had 10.
At the 6:17 mark, the Sparks were down by 26.
There weren’t many positives for LA for the rest of the half. They did start shooting better from behind the arc at 41%. But they also still ended the half with 10 turnovers.
At halftime, the purple and gold were down by 21. They were getting demolished in the paint, 28-16.
LA scored four quick points to start the third period, but it remained a disaster of a game. The Dream ballooned their lead to 30, forcing a timeout from the Sparks. Out of the break, Cameron Brink missed a triple.
She made up for it by draining two as the quarter was winding down. Once again, though, not much else went well for LA. They still had no players in double figures. The one bright spot for Los Angeles was Tonie Morgan off the bench.
Going into the final frame, the purple and gold were down by a lot of points.
Rae Burrell opened the fourth period with a layup for the Sparks. Howard, meanwhile, now had 26 points for the Dream and was 5-8 from behind the arc. Burrell was the first Spark in double figures with 10 points. Nneka entered double figures with 11.
Atlanta’s lead was 35 with 5:16 left as the starters exited to the bench. From there, the rest of the quarter happened.
Key Player Stats
Nneka finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Hamby ended with eight points, five rebounds and two assists. Burrell had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Brink put up 14 points with seven rebounds and four assists.
Morgan notched eight points with three assists and two steals off the bench. Gray logged eight points going 2-3 from behind the arc.
The Sparks’ next game is against the Connecticut Sun on Saturday at 6:00 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
