Los Angeles, CA — Today in sunny Los Angeles, we witnessed the Los Angeles Sparks decimate and dominate the defending champion Minnesota Lynx.
Behind the powerful performance of leading lady Candace Parker, the Sparks (4-1) Los Angeles captured their fourth win of the season, beating the Lynx (2-5) 77-69, adding to the unusually slow start by Minnesota in the 2018 season.
The Lynx’s struggle to maintain a flowing offense showed today. Although it is still early in the season, the Sparks proved why they only have one loss under their belt. First off, the offensive force from the Sparks was hard to overcome, but it wasn’t the only thing to throw the Lynx off balance.
The defensive hustle and unity that the Sparks possess made a huge difference in Sunday nights victory. It caused Minnesota to make quite a few more bad passes (18 turnovers on the night) than they had in mind and also some careless violations to slow down the tempo. It seemed as if they couldn’t quite get into a consistent flow and it hurt them in the end.
Parker again has proven to be the rock of the Sparks, as she delivered a smooth double-double (19 pts, 10 rebs). Following behind her was Chelsea Gray, who has been consistent all season, contributed 15 points, six assists and four rebounds. She was especially fun to watch on both sides of the court, and her teammates helping her up after taking a charge was a special moment. Gray has continued to be a key player for Los Angeles and arguably one of the best point guards in the league.
Minnesota had a slow start, but Maya Moore still managed to give them 18 points and five rebounds. The frustration within the team really showed once head coach Cheryl Reeves and guard Seimone Augustus both received technical fouls on the same play. From there, the energy level within the Los Angeles players increased even more.
The highlight play of the game was when Parker went coast to coast for a left handed layup, and let us not forget her shoulder shrug after banking in a three pointer.
The Sparks have strong chemistry, and when you saw Gray throw a quick bounce pass in the lane to Odyssey Sims for the And-1 play…it was easy to see.
All in all, the game was exciting to see both teams matching up to one another. Even though Los Angeles has taken the first two games between the two, its rivalry with Minnesota is still a game fans look forward to.
