The Los Angeles Sparks came out like a team on a mission on Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-76 in their opening game.
Game Recap
The game was close at halftime, but in the third quarter, the Sparks outscored the Mercury 30-8 to pull away. Phoenix turned the ball over 27 times, leading to 36 Sparks points. On offense, Los Angeles was very efficient, shooting 55% from the field.
The Sparks did an excellent job early getting Brittney Griner in foul trouble to take her out of the game. With Griner being out, that makes a shot blocker out of the paint. Phoenix looked out of sync; they need more time to develop with a lot of new pieces on their team.
Los Angeles had a lot of players contribute in this game; they had six players in double figures. Here some of the key players of the game for Los Angeles.
Nneka Ogwumike
Nneka Owumike had an outstanding game for the Sparks; she had 21 points and seven rebounds while shooting 8-8 from the field and 2-2 from three-point land. Ogwumike looks already in mid-season form for the Sparks, if she continues to knock down, three’s the Sparks will be hard to beat.
Candace Parker
One of the players that looked refreshed and played with urgency was Candace Parker. Parker came out and was very aggressive to start the game for the Sparks; she finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. When Parker is aggressive, the Sparks will be at their best; she can do a lot on the court for the Sparks.
Seimone Augustus
Seimone Augustus played a strong game as well, she finished the game with 14 points and shot 6-6 from the field. Augustus moved well, and her shot was on point all afternoon long. Los Angeles will need Augustus to play like this for them to compete for a championship, the former Minnesota Lynx player will have a lot of open shot opportunities.
Brittney Sykes and Te’a Cooper
Brittney Sykes and rookie Te’ a Cooper also had good games off the bench. Skyes scored 10 points, and after a rough start, Cooper settled in and scored 10 points as well.
It was a fantastic performance by the Sparks Saturday. It will be interesting to see how it carries over into the next game on Tuesday against a good Chicago Sky team.
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