Welcome to the Basketball Hangover. Here’s what’s going on in the WNBA.
The Sparks continue their long winning streak.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Los Angeles Sparks.)
Again, we shouldn’t forget about the Los Angeles Sparks. We have been talking about the Seattle Storm and the Las Vegas Aces but the Sparks have been right behind them every moment. They have the same number of losses as those two teams and the Sparks have won 9 straight.
It wasn’t easy for the Sparks. Just like their previous contest with them, the Atlanta Dream made it a battle against them. What made it even more difficult for the Sparks was that Chennedy Carter came back after missing 5 games with a messed-up ankle.
Even though the Sparks lost Nneka Ogwumike early, the team pressed on. Neither team could pull away for much of the game.
It was Brittney Sykes, however, that got the Sparks ahead. She scored 6 unanswered points to give L.A. a 78-74 lead. The Dream kept it close at 82-79 before the all-world clutch player Chelsea Gray put it away with a jumper with 8.1 seconds left and the final score.
And that’s the thing with the Sparks. They’ve been there before and they have what it takes to get back to the promised land. They are a veteran group that’s led by Ogwumike and Candace Parker. There’s kind of a reason why they haven’t lost in 9 games.
But they face another challenge tonight. I don’t think there were any back-to-backs that were scheduled but because of the walkout last week, they were rescheduled to play the Minnesota Lynx on Monday. That will be something.
Bullet Passes
Awful news for the Phoenix Mercury:
INJURY UPDATE: Bria Hartley suffered a torn ACL in her right knee on August 28 against Washington and will miss the remainder of the 2020 WNBA Season. pic.twitter.com/TxSf0tvplB
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) August 31, 2020
Hartley has been a potent offensive player off the bench and was in the running for Sixth Woman of the Year. At times during the season, she was even the leading scorer for the team. The Mercury need to dig deeper because Brittney Griner left the Wubble herself earlier this season.
And they did against Minnesota. They were in a fourth quarter drought before Skylar Diggins-Smith made some big shots and free throws at the end. Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi scored 48 combined points for the Mercury.
Two WNBA finalists from last year going in opposite directions. The Washington Mystics have lost 11 of 12 while the Connecticut Sun have won 7 of their last 11.
Double U Scoreboard
CON 76 (7-9) v WAS 63 (4-11)
PHX 83 (9-7) v MIN 79 (10-5)
ATL 79 (3-13) v LA 84 (12-3)
Watch This Play
This fadeaway J by Chelsea Gray (and then the block by Brittney Sykes) seals the win for Los Angeles.
👀 ICYMI: A BIG-TIME bucket from @cgray209 and HUGE block by @BrittBundlez helped the @LASparks secure the victory 👏#BradentonArea pic.twitter.com/vsLNc2Y6Dj
— WNBA (@WNBA) August 31, 2020
Take care, everyone in the Wubble.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.