The Los Angeles Sparks have been one of the hottest teams in the WNBA since the All-Star break posting a 4-1 record. That stretch goes back to before the break as well with the Sparks winning seven of their last nine games. But in a somewhat strange and interesting dynamic, the majority of the Sparks’ wins have come during road games. In fact, the Sparks have the worst home game record in the league at 3-9. Following the Sparks’ most recent road win, 108-106 against the Seattle Storm, Kelsey Plum spoke about that dynamic.
“I think if I had the answer, I would tell you. Regardless, at the end of the day we’re professional athletes and we’re gonna figure it out. But tonight was a great step in the right direction,” Plum said during her postgame press conference. “And we have a tough one with Indiana at home, they’re playing great basketball. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
“And when we start tot look at the standings and where we’re at, every game is critical and defending home court is the way that you get into the playoffs,” Kelsey Plum continued. “If you win your home games, you’re usually in the playoffs. . .I’ll take accountability for that. We got to be able to win at home, and I think that’s a lot partly on me being better.”
Following the win against the Storm, the Sparks moved into first for the most number of road game wins in the league with nine. The Minnesota Lynx, who hold the best record in the league at 24-5, reached that mark as well following their road win against the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday.
But when you look at the teams with the best records in the league such as the New York Liberty (17-10), Atlanta Dream (17-11) and Phoenix Mercury (16-11), only the Mercury have a winning record on the road at 8-7. The Sparks are one of only four teams including the Lynx, Mercury and Storm as having winning road records.
If the Sparks had the same win pace for home games as they do on the road, they would be up there with the best teams in the WNBA. It’s a a dynamic that has also befuddled Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts.
“I think we are able to kind of eliminate distractions on the road. I think it’s very much the collective kind of one, all for one and one for all mentality,” Roberts said following the Storm win, “I think we understand that we’re a sum of the parts team, but I don’t know, that’s not very common is it. We’ve got great crowds and it’s not like we’re playing in an empty arena. So we’ve got to fix the home game thing, but we will continue to get better.”
