LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Sparks resumed the second half of the 2024 WNBA season on Thursday only to suffer a humiliating 103-68 defeat at home against the New York Liberty. The Liberty rattled off ten straight points to start the game and it was never close at any point. Following the game, Sparks wing Rae Burrell said the Olympic break could have played a factor in the team’s performance.
“I feel like it was expected to come out a little bit not at our best after a month off because we’ve all been apart. We had a few people at the Olympics so we haven’t been a team as long as some other teams,” Burrell said. “But we’re not going to use that as an excuse. What was controllable tonight was effort and I think we just lacked a little bit of effort. But that’s something we can always get back next game.”
Despite the loss to the Liberty, Rae Burrell turned in one of her best games of the season for the Sparks. She had a team-high 15 points off the bench in 18 minutes of play. She also contributed two rebounds and three assists.
What stood out the most though about Burrell’s play was that she was aggressive in getting to the basket. She got to the free-throw line 13 times and converted on 12 of those attempts. That was a career-high for her in free-throw attempts. Burrell mentioned that she felt like the team needed someone to be aggressive in that way and so she took it upon herself to deliver.
“I just try to make sure, you know, I always try to come in with energy and bring a spark,” Burrell said. “And I think sometimes you need that aggression and just to see the ball going in a few times. We need that aggression so I just try to bring that.”
Sparks loss to Liberty was worst of the season
The Sparks have lost a bunch of games this season and after their most recent loss, they fell to 6-19 overall. But Thursday’s game against the Liberty was their biggest margin of defeat so far this season. The game was never competitive at any point with the Liberty in control from the opening tip.
Sparks rookie forward Rickea Jackson said the team needs to come out with a much more focused approach come Saturday’s game against the Chicago Sky.
“Just stand in it knowing that this isn’t what we expected, but at the same time we did it to ourselves. So we just have to come out with a more focused mind on both ends of the court next game,” Jackson said. “We just got to do better.”
Sparks head coach Curt Miller went a little further in his assessment, suggesting that the team needed to feel embarrassed by this effort.
“I think that should bother them, I definitely think that on your home court, to be embarrassed like that, they have to come back with more pride,” Miller said. “That’s disappointing individually for all of us, players and coaches, but also that this a franchise with a rich tradition. This doesn’t happen to the Sparks on the Sparks’ homecourt. So my hope is that it bothers them, but we’ve got to move on.”
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