Sparks get obliterated on the road against the Liberty lose sixth in a row

The Sparks had one of their worst losses of the season versus the Liberty as they continue to drop games.

The Sparks started strong and the game was even tied in the second quarter 31-31, but the Liberty put on a clinic in the second half to obliterate Los Angeles, 98-88, on Saturday afternoon.

Los Angeles are still winless on this seven-game road trip with their seventh game coming against a Phoenix Mercury team they’ve already lost to this season.

Dearica Hamby started strong, but foul trouble caused her to fall out of rhythm. She ended with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kia Nurse pitched in with nine points.

Rickea Jackson put up seven points on 3-9 shooting. Li Yueru’s second stint in the starting lineup ended with her scoring eight points with three rebounds. Rae Burrell and Zia Cooke were big off the bench. Burrell scored nine points and Cooke had a career-high of 14 points.

With rookie Cameron Brink out for the season, the Sparks signed Queen Egbo on a hardship contract to fill the void. She played three minutes, scored two points and grabbed a pair of rebounds.

The Sparks’ next contest will be Friday against the Phoenix Mercury at 7:00 PM PT.

With their dominant shooting, drilling three of their first seven three-point attempts the Liberty jumped out to an early lead. The Sparks took some time to find their shots, but eventually made it more competitive.

Hamby, who has been struggling the last two games offensively got on to a fast start. She was finding her rhythm early Saturday afternoon. Nurse wasn’t necessarily efficient, but was providing much-needed offense as well.

Los Angeles went on a 17-4 scoring run to jump ahead by four. Unfortunately, the Sparks offense stalled yet again as the Liberty put together a 10-3 run to tie the game early in the second quarter.

Although New York had snatched momentum, the Sparks managed to stick around and put up a decent fight to stay in it. A quick 8-2 run at the end of the half catapulted the Liberty to a 10-point lead at halftime.

After two minutes of scoreless action, the Sparks get on the board first in the second half. Hamby’s four fouls took her completely out of rhythm and she couldn’t build on the strong start she had in the first half. She only scored five points in the entire second half.

New York had all the momentum and continued to build on its lead as Los Angeles fell into their bad habits, missing shots and stalling offensively. Breanna Stewart was torching them all afternoon with her scoring and defensive skills. She put on a clinic with three steals and six blocks, including one rejection of Hamby that got the Brooklyn crowd on their feet.

The game got completely out of hand with the Liberty lighting the Sparks on fire with their shooting and going ahead by as many as 23. LA had cut the deficit to 14 going into the final frame.

The young Sparks still battled despite the Liberty’s onslaught, even cutting the deficit to as close as 10, but a three by Sabrina Ionescu put the final dagger in LA’s attempted comeback.

Key Takeaways:

The Sparks keep finding themselves down big and having to try to claw their way back into the game. The injury list isn’t long, but Brink out for the rest of the year is a huge blow.

Teams will get more aggressive in the paint unbothered by any rim protectors the Sparks can present.

Is this team capable of beating quality teams, or is it time to look at lottery odds and join the Paige Bueckers sweepstakes?

There is still more basketball in front of us than behind, so hopefully, this team can clean up their turnovers, earn some wins and keep building some momentum before we enter the Olympic break next month.

You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.