LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks finally returned home to Crypto.com Arena after a road trip that saw them go 0-7. Through three quarters of their game on Tuesday against the Washington Mystics, it appeared as if they were going to snap the losing streak. But the Sparks were outplayed in the fourth quarter, a growing trend this season, and veteran forward Dearica Hamby believes she knows why this has been the case.
“I think when teams go on a run, which is natural in basketball, with a long team we tend to kind of go within ourselves and lose sight of the bigger picture instead of being patient,” Hamby said after the game. “I think with about four minutes left I said just be composed. We don't have to play like we're down but we need to run clock and be smart about that.”
The Sparks were outscored in the fourth quarter, 30-16 in route to an 82-80 loss, their eighth in a row. They led by as many as 14 points in the second half before the Mystics went on a run to ultimately surge ahead. For a young team that's in the midst of a rebuild, this isn't necessarily a surprise.
Young teams have to find a way to win and a way to play together and it doesn't always happen overnight. The Sparks just completed a nine-game in 18 days stretch and while playing so many games right after another can be strenuous, Dearica Hamby believes that it's key for this team to learn how to win.
“Just keep talking, we have another game. This league doesn't stop for anybody and we got Vegas up next,” Hamby said. “This league doesn't stop, that's all we keep talking about.”
Sparks searching for answers as Olympic break looms
With the longest road trip of the season out of the way, the Sparks can enjoy the four of their next five games at home. That will be followed by All-Star Weekend and the subsequent Olympic break. The Sparks will have four players at the 2024 Olympics in Dearica Hamby (Team USA 3×3), Kia Nurse (Canada), Li Yueru (China) and Stephanie Talbot (Australia).
But for the rest of the team, it means close to a month long break to reset and regroup for the final stretch of the regular season. One thing having a home stretch leading up to the Olympic break does is it allows the Sparks to have ample practice time to continue to work out the kinks.
When the team suffers from scoring droughts as they have this season, and are also struggling to get defensive stops, staying composed is something they need to learn how to do. For Aari McDonald, the Sparks' starting point guard, she believes she can do a better job in terms of quarterbacking the team in that sense and calm everyone down.
“I think for one, when we're in those droughts where we can't score, we're not getting stops, I think I can do a better job of just making sure we're composed and just taking a deep breath,” McDonald said after the Mystics loss. “Just let the team know that we're still in the game, just keep on doing what has been successful throughout the game.”
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