Being out of postseason contention didn’t make the Sparks’ season finale meaningless.
It was a chance to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since 2020. An opportunity to foil the Las Vegas Aces’ push for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs while derailing a 15-game winning streak. And, above all, a matter of pride.
But just as with their season-long goal of reaching the playoffs, the Sparks fell short of their goal, as A’ja Wilson and the Aces dominated in a 103-75 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
The talent gap was stark in the first half, with Las Vegas building a lead that swelled to 22 behind a three-point barrage led by Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray. One of the league’s best three-point shooting teams (34.6% per game entering Thursday), the Aces (30-14) hit 11 threes in the first half to take a 19-point lead by halftime.
The Aces finished with 22 three-pointers — the most ever in a WNBA regular-season game. The Aces already hold the outright record of 23 three-pointers, which they set in the playoffs in 2022.
The trio of Loyd, Gray and Wilson proved too much for a short-handed Sparks squad to handle.
Loyd and Gray reached double figures in scoring by halftime — Loyd with 21 and Gray with 13. Wilson, a front-runner for league MVP, delivered yet another dominant stat line: 23 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
Former Aces Dearica Hamby and Kelsey Plum tried to will the Sparks (21-23) to one more victory, but it was all for naught. Plum had her hands full with the opposing backcourt, and Hamby drew the unenviable assignment of battling the league’s best in Wilson.
Hamby opened strong, scoring all seven Sparks’ points in the first six minutes as the team tried to feed her in the post. She finished with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Plum also finished with 15 points in a physical game that featured several players arguing with referees over foul calls.
In the second quarter, Cameron Brink caught a left elbow to the nose from Aces forward NaLyssa Smith under the basket. Blood trickled from Brink’s face onto the hardwood as Brink shouted at the referees after no foul was called.
The training staff escorted her to the locker room with a towel pressed to her face, and she did not return.
Trailing 77-58 at the end of the third quarter, Sparks coach Lynne Roberts put in rookies Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alissa Pili and Sania Feagin.
Barker scored 15 points in 38 minutes. Pilli scored a career-high seven points in six minutes. Feagin finished with four points.
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