The Minnesota Lynx will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they host the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Minnesota (9-1) is coming off a 94-84 loss on the road against the Seattle Storm on Wednesday that snapped a perfect start to Minnesota, which remains unbeaten at home.
Lynx guard Bridget Carleton said she and her teammates could learn from the loss.
“It’s a good moment for us to look inward,” Carleton said. “They had 50 points in the paint. That can’t happen.”
Look for Minnesota to focus on interior defense when it goes up against Los Angeles. The Sparks (4-7) hope to put together back-to-back wins after holding on for a 97-89 victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday.
Rickea Jackson aims to continue her hot shooting after scoring 30 points for the Sparks in her most recent game. Jackson made 11 of 17 shots from the field, including 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.
“I just trusted my work,” Jackson said after the victory. “I played with confidence and let the game come to me.”
Kelsey Plum leads Los Angeles with 21 points per game to go along with a team-high 5.7 assists. Dearica Hamby (18.2 ppg) and Azura Stevens (14.2) round out the top three scorers, and Jackson boosted her season total to 11.5 points per contest.
The Lynx are led by Napheesa Collier, who is averaging 25.4 points and 8.9 rebounds. Kayla McBride ranks second with 17.3 points per game, and Courtney Williams is third with 11.9.
This is the second matchup of the season between the Lynx and Sparks.
In their first meeting, the Lynx pulled away for an 89-75 win on the road against Los Angeles on May 18. Collier scored 23 points to lead Minnesota, and Alanna Smith added 18 points.
Stevens scored 21 points to lead Los Angeles. Hamby notched a double-double with 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
Collier said it was important to refocus on defense coming out of their first setback of the season. One statistic that the Lynx do not want to see repeated is allowing all five opposing starters to score in double digits, as proved to be the case against Seattle.
“Our defense wasn’t up to par,” Collier said. “They came ready to play, and we didn’t really.”
–Field Level Media
