LOS ANGELES — The Sparks are looking to make a statement against the first-place Minnesota Lynx on Thursday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.
“It would be a huge opportunity to beat them at home and that’s how we’re approaching it,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said.
The Sparks have split their past four games, with both victories coming on the road against the Indiana Fever (85-75 on June 26 and 89-87 on July 5).
“I think we’re playing better,” Roberts continued. “I really do. I think it helps to have players coming back.”
The Sparks (6-13) are coming off the two-point win in Indiana on Saturday, which featured a nine-player rotation. Recently integrated players include Julie Allemand, the team’s starting point guard who missed nearly three weeks due to an overseas commitment to play for Team Belgium in EuroBasket, and reserves Julie Vanloo, a guard who was signed on July 3, after being waived by the Golden State Valkyries, and guard/forward Rae Burrell, who has played in the last two games after getting hurt 41 seconds into her season debut May 16 against Golden State.
“We’re starting to get back to the roster that we thought we have six months ago,” Roberts explained.
However, the Sparks, currently 10th in the league standings, are 0-3 against the Lynx this season. They suffered a 89-75 loss at home on May 18, a 101-78 loss on the road on June 14, and a 82-66 loss on June 21.
“When the No. 1 team comes, you know you have to perform well,” Sparks forward Azurá Stevens said. “We played them three times now, we’re just going to come out and try to exceed their physicality, their intensiveness and just be on our A-game.”
In the last matchup, Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who was selected as an All-Star reserve, had a team-high 15 points in the defeat. Stevens said it was awesome to see Plum, who is averaging a team-high 20.1 points and 5.6 assists, earn her fourth consecutive All-Star selection.
“KP, from the minute she’s come in, has just led by example with her work ethic, how hard she plays,” Stevens continued. “It’s been great getting on the court with her, so I’m happy that she got recognized and proud of her for being an All-Star of her team.”
The Lynx, who are led by WNBA All-Star captain Napheesa Collier, sit squarely atop the league standings, several games ahead of the Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm.
Collier is leading the league in scoring at 24.3 points per game.
However, Thursday’s game will be the second of back-to-back games for the Lynx after Wednesday afternoon’s contest at Phoenix.
Stevens said Collier, with whom she played at UConn during the 2017-18 season, is an extremely tough player to match up with.
“Phee is just one of the best players, if not the best player in the league right now,” Stevens explained. “Just the way that she can score on three levels, defend, just affect the game. So all of us as posts, we know that we’re going to have to come ready to just stop her on three levels.
“She can shoot outside. She can take you off the bounce. She can post up. Her fadeaway is like killer, so I think just trying to make it as hard as possible for her and disrupting her offensively is what we’re going to try to do.”
Stevens, in her eighth season in the WNBA, is averaging a career-high 14.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The 6-foot-6 forward/center reacted to some fans saying she should have been selected as one of 12 All-Star reserves by WNBA coaches.
“I mean yeah,” Stevens continued. “I think I’ve been having a great year, but you know it is what it is. All I can do is go out and play as hard as I can and just keep doing what I can do. That’s all I’ll say on it.”
Thursday’s game, which begins at noon, will be Kids Day, which usually results in a sellout crowd, creating a louder-than-usual environment because of thousands of young fans.
LYNX (17-2) AT SPARKS (6-13)
When: Noon Thursday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
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