Seeking their first pair of consecutive wins this season, the Los Angeles Sparks welcome the WNBA-leading Minnesota Lynx for a Thursday matinee.
Minnesota (17-3) plays its second afternoon tilt in as many days as the Lynx began a four-game road swing on Wednesday in Phoenix as part of the league’s Kids Day celebrations. The Mercury snapped Minnesota’s five-game regular-season winning streak in a 79-71 decision.
The Lynx thus come into Los Angeles trying to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this season, the flip side to the Sparks’ pursuit of elusive back-to-back wins.
Los Angeles (6-13) lost six of seven games prior to its 89-87 defeat of Indiana last Saturday.
“It’s growth,” Azura Stevens said following her 21-point, 12-rebound double-double in the win. “I’m proud of the team for not disintegrating.”
Stevens has been a bright spot for Los Angeles. Saturday marked her fifth double-double of the campaign and she has scored in double figures in seven straight outings.
Stevens’ interior presence should play a role against an opponent that has vexed Los Angeles this season. The Sparks’ 1-6 tailspin included a pair of losses at Minnesota — 101-78 on June 14 and 82-66 on June 21.
Minnesota also won its previous trip to Los Angeles, 89-75, on May 18.
Napheesa Collier, whose 23.9 points per game lead the WNBA, scored 23 points in the first encounter. She followed that up with 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists on June 14.
Collier missed the June 21 date, but Kayla McBride picked up the slack with 29 points. McBride will look to bounce back on Thursday after scoring just six points in Wednesday’s loss at Phoenix.
Collier’s 18 points on Wednesday, meanwhile, snapped a five-game run of scoring 21 points or more.
Minnesota ranks third in the WNBA in scoring at 84.4 points per game, but averaged only 64.7 points in its last three losses — including the Commissioner’s Cup final on July 1 vs. Indiana.
Los Angeles, however, allows 86.9 points per game — the league’s second-highest yield. Minnesota is averaging 90.7 points per game in the three previous meetings this season.
The Lynx’s 74.3 points allowed per game is tops in the league, reflective of a recent focus for the organization.
“Going into last season, we felt we had to make a big change defensively, because we had consistently been in the lower part of the league (in defensive stats),” coach Cheryl Reeve told Stephen PridGeon-Garner of PHNX Sports. “We had to defend the 3-point line better; that was a big miss…We’ve dramatically improved there.”
At 28.8 percent from long range allowed, Minnesota leads the WNBA and Reeve’s squad held Sparks sharpshooter Kelsey Plum to 1 of 7 from beyond the arc when the teams last met.
–Field Level Media
