For one night in Los Angeles, the Sparks were better than the Las Vegas Aces.
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Sparks entered Friday’s matchup in a dire position, having lost eight straight and facing the defending champion, Las Vegas Aces, at home.
Los Angeles may be in a rebuild, but there are levels to mediocrity and heading into this game, the Sparks were at rock bottom and beginning to dig.
So, how did this team, who sit in the WNBA basement, find a way to beat one of the best teams in the league in overtime?
Well, where some might see victory as an improbability, others can see opportunity.
Playing the Aces presents a challenge: Las Vegas is a measuring stick on which one can judge a team. How close are you to contention? When playing the best, where do you match up and can you give the effort and execution needed to win?
“Certainly, we’re trying to continue to grow, so part of it is evaluating our growth through slippage, through execution on both sides of the ball,” Head coach Curt Miller said pregame. “As we always talk about, wins and losses take care of themselves; we got to worry about the process.”
Los Angeles came out well during the first half and not only matched Las Vegas, but they got the better of them.
Dearica Hamby, already amid a career year, played with some extra pep in her step. She was taking on the challenge of scoring over WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and was winning more than losing on 50/50 rebounds.
Her motivation isn’t just competitive; it’s personal. She had an ugly breakup with the Aces, resulting in her getting traded to the Sparks and filing a discrimination suit against her former team.
She’s turned that trauma into triumph here in Southern California. Tonight, she shined brightest, leading the Sparks in scoring with 28 points and no one grabbed as many boards as she did, pulling 14 on the night.
Dearica turned it up a notch.
— Los Angeles Sparks (@LASparks) July 6, 2024
28 PTS | 14 REB | 4 AST pic.twitter.com/0j9bVA8WNp
Heading into the halftime break, the Sparks held a double-digit advantage.
And yet, the result was far from secure. L.A. has blown these kinds of leads all year, including their previous game versus the Mystics, where they lost despite being up by 14 with less than ten minutes to go.
Unfortunately, Friday night was beginning to follow a similar script. The Aces roared back in the fourth and held a three-point advantage with a little over three minutes left.
The story was already complete. The bad team losses and the champ reminds you why they’ve crossed paths you’ve never touched. But that’s why they play the game; that’s not how the story went.
Instead, the Sparks were the ones giving a championship effort.
Aari McDonald bullied Kelsey Plum all night, ending the game with a career-high 23 points. Hamby scored late and Stephanie Talbot hit the jumper over Chelsea Gray to send the game into overtime.
In the closing minutes, the Sparks grabbed key rebounds on missed free throws, defended well and out-executed the Aces to squeak out the win.
After the game, Miller spoke about the victory.
“There’s confidence in that locker room that they can match up with Vegas as talented and as much respect as we have for them...” Miller said. “But really proud of them; it was a really gritty win.”
It’s human nature to compete. You can look back at the primitive nature of barbarians scrapping for food and shelter to the modern-day person who grows up and wants to be the best version of themselves.
It’s an innate aspect of our humanity. Even as children, we competed with one another and it was always exhilarating when the stakes were raised.
It could be at school, in the playground, or, my favorite, against our parents or older relatives.
Even when it was playful and innocent, like a game of Monopoly or a causal game of pickup basketball, there was a thrill in flipping that power dynamic against someone not used to it.
Sure, we respect our competition, but here, in this moment, under these conditions, I am the dominator.
I am the best and when we don’t have an established hierarchy and I’m given an equal opportunity, I’m better.
For one night in Southern California, the Sparks can stick out their chests and relish in this moment. They went up against the best and were better.
It may not change much about where the season is heading, but it shows proof of concept.
When Curt Miller and the Sparks give their best, they can be the best. Now, they just need to continue that energy through mid-July until we reach the Olympic break.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.
